Workplace and School Mistakes: How to Get Nowhere
by A great many people are unaware of the mistakes they make every day which hold them back from promotion or good standing with their superiors. If a teacher at school or university is acting as a reference, they are not going to go out of their way to make you sound wonderful if you have been rude to them. Here are the most common ways people are rude without realising it.
Believe it or not, well over half of all people do this. They hold themselves back from earning more money or from good standing with their teachers without ever realising it. This is because they make themselves seem less intelligent and more lazy than they really are. And this is how they do it.
The most common mistake is the way you speak with your coworkers, boss, teachers, or superiors. Most people who are aware that their position is above yours will want to be treated accordingly. This doesn’t mean you need to grovel and bow, but it does mean that you should not be overly friendly and casual. Telling your friend that their girlfriend is “f***ing hot” might be fine, but it is not at all appropriate to say the same thing to your boss. Even if your boss treats you this way, and has indicated that it is okay for you to do the same, it is always best to err on the side of caution. Always be professional, or you will not succeed in a professional environment.
If this is hard for you to do, imagine the person you try to behave best for. It might have been your mother when you were 12, or your father-in-law, or an old boss with high standards. Behave this way in any situation that is professional or academic. It sounds small, but considering that over half of all people are held back from promotion and are thought of as inappropriate and immature because of it, it cannot hurt to try. Anyone looking to recruit or give raises will think, “this person cannot even be bothered behaving properly, why would I expect them to work properly either? I’m not giving them the promotion!”
The second most common mistake is in written correspondance – typically email. You probably already know that you need to be careful with emails, because anything you send can be forwarded to other parties. Anything you type is a permanent record attached to you, so only type things you are comfortable with the whole world potentially seeing. Perhaps three quarters of people, however, are quite unaware of this. I know university professors who receive emails which say things like “i forgot the hmwk lol can u give me a extnsn?” This is hugely inappropriate. It takes only a few seconds longer to type “Dear Professor, I apologise that I have been unable to finish the assigned homework. Is it at all possible to receive an extension? Kindest regards, …” From the professor’s point of view, then, this is a person who is too lazy to type even for a few seconds longer, and is also unintelligent enough to, after 18 or more years of life, not have learnt even the most basic rules of social conduct.
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