If you'd like to do better in your career, it's worth asking yourself if your own work beliefs are holding you back. Here are eight common misconceptions that can keep you from getting the projects, jobs, promotions, and the salary you'd like:
1. Doing your job adequately is enough. Doing a merely adequate job isn't enough these days. With so many qualified job seekers available for hire, you need to go above and beyond to be seen as valuable. If you're simply meeting your employer's minimum expectations, your boss can quickly find someone who will do more.
2. If you do good work, your attitude doesn't matter. If you complain frequently, regularly shoot down ideas, or act like the office prima donna, your boss probably considers you a pain. And that will probably result in less interesting assignments, less flexibility, lower raises, and a higher chance of ending up at the top of the list if cuts ever need to be made.
3. Asking questions about an assignment will make you look like you don't know what you're doing. Good managers want you to ask questions, because they want you to get it right and not make mistakes that could cost time and money. In fact, it's generally unnerving when an employee who is taking on new work doesn't ask questions about it. Managers want to make sure that you're on the same page as they are and asking questions is often essential to getting there.
4. Being liked and making friends at work is more important than doing your job well. Few people would say this outright, even to themselves, but many people's behavior shows that they do believe this: They chit-chat when they should be working, they don't assert themselves when work is done incorrectly, and they gossip about the boss when doing so could destroy...