In today’s work environment, employees are
often asked to go above and beyond as a
matter of routine. “That’s not my job” can
make you look stubborn, lazy and generally
uninterested in the company’s success.
Saying certain thing at work can give others
the wrong idea about you and your motives, so
be aware of how your words come across to
others. Here are five career killers.
“It’s all your fault.”
This one is fairly obvious — direct blame never
looks good. “What people are saying is ‘I’ve
got to cover my rear end,’” says Barb Krantz
Taylor, principal consultant at The Bailey
Group in Minneapolis. And that can make you
look insecure, reluctant to take responsibility,
or even a tyrant. “Leaders need self-
management, and if I feel angry, I need to find
ways to deal with it,” Taylor says. Lashing out
and blaming others not only doesn’t solve the
problem at hand, it wrecks business
relationships and can seriously hurt your
career. Instead, focus on solving the problem
and then, when things are quieter, finding out
how to prevent it from happening again.
“It’s all my fault.”
This seems like it could be helpful, but Taylor
warns that it’s not. “Falling on your sword
brings you into a place of shame,” she says.
Being the martyr and taking everything on
yourself can set you up for future blame, as
well as plant the impression that you are
incompetent. Accept the responsibility for
things only if that responsibility is truly yours.
“You can apologize for a situation that
someone is in,” Taylor says, adding that doing
so can be effective in moving the focus away
from who’s at fault and onto finding solutions.
“It’s not fair.”
Whether this is true or not, this is one of the
most unhelpful things you can say at work. No
matter how you say it, it’s going to come
across as whining. And the answer you’re
likely to get can be something along the lines
of “You’re right — so what?” Instead, find
more concrete, fact-based objections to
something you want to change, rather than
relying on emotional appeal.
“That’s not my job.”
In today’s work environment, employees are
often asked to go above and beyond as a
matter of routine. “That’s not my job” can
make you look stubborn, lazy and generally
uninterested in the company’s success.
Instead, identify the problem you have with
the task at hand — is it something you truly
don’t have time for? Is it something that
someone else would do better? In addition,
Taylor recommends seeing things from the
other person’s perspective. “If we can be
curious about expectations, we can better
manage relationships we have with people,”
she says. There are instances where a
jurisdictional or work agreement may make
something truly not your job, but if this is not
the case, find a better way to turn down extra
projects.
“Don’t tell so-and-so, but…”
Office politics can be devastating. While you
may be involved in closed-door meetings with
colleagues or managers, don’t say anything in
private at work that you wouldn’t want said in
public at work. No matter how you think you
can manage secrets, words often have a way of
getting around. Be prudent about what you
share and whom you share it with. Watching
your words is an important part of your
workday life. Think twice before you say
something, and try to imagine how your words
sound to others.

Well noted. Nice one