You can be ‘too thorough’ in your job

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Dear Joan:
I recently had a performance review that left me upset and confused.

I pride myself on being thorough, but my boss is now saying I'm "too thorough." How can this be? Others around me seem to be too careless, in my opinion, buy they're getting promoted. Do I have to lower my standards?

Answer:
The very strength that brought you this far in your career is now perceived as a weakness. Is there no justice?

Yes, there is, and thank goodness your boss is just. He or she gave you feedback that is meant to help you - even though it stings right now.

Because thoroughness is one of your strengths, you may have begun to overuse it. It may not be hard to correct but it will be hard to see.

Take a fresh look. What you view as thoroughness may be an inability to let go of a project once it has been completed.

·        Do you find yourself bringing up a new angle on a topic from a previous meeting and notice that no one is interested?

·        Do you consider most project files - even old ones - "active files"?

·        Have your responsibilities increased? If so, your boss wants you to take a broader view. For example, if you used to be a secretary and now you're the manager's assistant, it's more important that your posted schedule works, not how it looks.

Being too thorough can be a symptom of indecisiveness.

·        Do you find yourself delaying a decision because you want to check another figure or call one more person?

·        Has the work volume increased? If it has, you don't have the luxury of following each detail to its logical conclusion. Ambiguity may give you an anxiety attack, but you're going to have to learn to live with some of it.

Some people get downright compulsive about neatness, order and proper procedure. In the end, your boss only cares about results. As long as you have a reasonable amount of documentation to back up your results, you're going to be fine. Relax.

You're not alone. Here are some other "strengths" that get people into trouble:

·        Ambition. If you forget you have peers and subordinates, you're on a wire without a net. You need friends in high places but you need support under you, too.

If you've become indifferent to people you used to feel warm toward, or if you're uninterested in anyone lower than a vice president, you may have already crossed the line from confident to arrogant.

·        Caring. Caring for people is an important part of working with them. But you've taken it too far if people are crying on your shoulder and you can't get your work done.

Don't confuse "caring for" people with "taking care of" them. Discipline yourself to stop indulging people's neediness on demand. It's not cold or uncaring to allow people to take responsibility for their own problems

·        You always tell the truth. Do you feel that you are the only one who tells it like it is? Do you think other people are mincing words or playing politics? Does it usually seem that you are the only one who knows what's really going on?

If this sounds like you, your "truth" is viewed as obnoxious candor by others. Brutal frankness hurts. Tact is not the opposite of truth.

·        You're modest. If you know you're capable but afraid to ask for what you know you can do, your modesty isn't charming - it's foolish.

You don't have to brag but you must speak up assertively for what you think and want. If you don't, you'll have a modest little job forever. You'll also have a modest little ulcer.

If your career is stalled, it may be because something that seems very right is actually very wrong. Ask for feedback to help you see it.