How to Stop Shooting Yourself in the Foot at Work
What if the common denominator is you?
Imagine sitting down with a new employee, handing him his first evaluation, and without looking at it he says, “Where do I sign?”
“Excuse me?” I said, “Don’t you want to read what I’ve written?”
“No, not really,” he said, “I already know I’m good at my job.”
“Look, I know evaluations aren’t always perfect and sometimes they can be too subjective. But I’ve paid close attention to your work and put a lot of time into this evaluation. There’s some good stuff in there, and some things I’d like to see you improve,” I said.
“No offense, but I’ll just sign it,” he said.
In my mind, I felt like shooting the guy. But then, I didn’t have to.
He already shot himself.
Ego is self-anointed, its swagger is artifice
It wasn’t long before the new guy started getting complaints at work.
Myself and other supervisors sat down with him and explained that he was shooting himself in the foot. He had some skills, but his ego and disinterest in constructive feedback were his undoing.
