If you want to advance your career in commercial construction, you have to consider your habits and behaviors. Sometimes, the smallest actions can prevent you from landing a promotion. Here are four things you should stop doing if you want to advance your career.
Taking on Too Much Responsibility
The first thing you should stop doing is trying to do everything yourself. In attempting to showcase leadership qualities, construction professionals often take on more responsibilities than they can handle. While you should certainly challenge yourself, you also have to realize the value of teamwork and ask for help when need be. No matter what position you have, there will always be people on your team who have skills you lack. You want to demonstrate humility and a willingness to learn
Show, Don’t Tell
One behavior that rubs managers the wrong way is overpromising. Instead of talking a lot of game when communicating with managers, clients, and co-workers, show them you can perform above their expectations. You want the people around you to know you can deliver, but you don’t want to come across as arrogant. It also hurts your reputation if you make a promise you can’t keep. You need your team to trust you.
Striving for Perfection
Most people perceive perfectionism as a positive trait, but perfectionism usually holds people back. Of course, you should try to perform quality work, but obsessing over every little flaw will make it harder for you to adhere to deadlines and cause you unnecessary anxiety. As a leader, you need to demonstrate that you function well under stress. In addition, the idea of perfection is misleading. In commercial construction, there is always room for improvement. Instead of aiming for perfection, aim for improvement.
Focusing on Problems
In any job, there will always be problems. You might have a coworker you don’t get along with or a difficult client. Most of us will stress out about problems and complications or try to avoid them. But one of the defining characters of a great leader is the ability solve problems. Instead of stressing about or avoiding problems, search for them. You want people to see you as the person to go to when they have a problem.
If you want to move up in the commercial construction field, you need your managers and team members to see your leadership potential. To accomplish this, you need to show you understand the value of sharing responsibility, show you can perform exceptionally, focus on self-improvement, and establish yourself as a problem solver.
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