Albert Einstein said, “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.” As an executive coach who has devoted her career to helping people develop, I wholeheartedly agree with him. We all have the capacity to become better versions of ourselves.
While I think most successful people recognize the need for growth, it’s also not uncommon for me to come across people who have lofty career ambitions, but are full of excuses for why they can’t develop. Read on for four common beliefs that stall careers.
1. You believe that you don’t have anything to work on
If you truly believe that you don’t have any opportunities for personal development, then I encourage you to start by taking a long hard look at yourself, and perhaps reframe how you are looking at your situation. Keep in mind that having a developmental opportunity doesn’t mean that you necessarily have a weakness per se, it just means that you recognize that by strengthening in a given area, you could become even more effective.
A great example of this is the case of tennis professional, Serena Williams. Though most would list her amongst the ranks of the best tennis players of all time, she has consistently worked on fine-tuning aspects of her game throughout her career, due to a desire to be her absolute best.
Keep her example in mind, and self-reflect with the aim of uncovering areas of development that will make you more effective in the present, or get you ready for your future goals. And, if upon further reflection, you still believe you don’t have anything to work on, try getting feedback from your boss, a mentor, colleague, direct report (or even significant other). Doing this will likely give you food for thought and help you to become aware of any blind spots that could derail you.
2. You are being black-and-white in your thinking
Sometimes, clients have an initial fear that developing in a certain area will cause them to become someone they don’t want to be. For example, when talking to a client about his tendency to avoid conflict, I hear something like, “I don’t want to be an aggressive jerk.” Or in response to a suggestion that someone should be a less demanding manager I might hear, “I don’t want us to be doing shoddy work.”
If you are looking at personal development in black and white terms, you are forgetting that behavior occurs in matters of degree. Although it might feel like the two options are passive and jerk, or perfectionism and apathy, for example, there is actually a pretty wide range between those two extremes. Remembering the many shades of gray in behavioral styles will give you a greater sense of assurance as you experiment with new behaviors.
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