To be fair, there are those that use their cell phone during working hours for perfectly legitimate reasons: to check in on family, doctor’s appointments,  check messages. Then there are those that are glued to their phone.We’re talking the serial texters who check in every 10 minutes with their entourage or the addicted tweeters whose guilty pleasure is to scroll through people’s thoughts throughout the day in the office.  When you see this behavior, you may not  realize it at the time, but you’ve made your judgement call: They’re not committed at work.

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You’re thinking: That’s not me. I’m a professional and overuse of my phone during working hours does not apply. It’s not even an issue.

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Perhaps, but as your trusted Shoe Hostess I’m not here to point fingers. I’m here to wave the red flag and point out that

 you may be giving an impression of not taking your career serious enough,

in other ways which IS an issue. Here are some common openers that have gone down behind closed doors:

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•  “She becomes defensive every time I ask her to correct or do something different. “

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• “She’s pretty aggressive and difficult to work with.”

 

• Ever since she returned from maternity leave, she’s out the door at 5pm. I understand she’s a new parent, but she has a job to do as well. “

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• “She complains about others’ productivity but never comes up with ways in which she can improve her own work.”

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• “Sure, she gets the job done, but likes to fly under the radar. I need someone who can deliver more face time from our department.”

 

I guarantee you have overheard or have been part of a conversation where someone’s reputation and committment to their job was placed on the chopping block for scrutiny.

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You spend many hours amongst people who (like it or not), are your work family.  If you hang out with a male colleague a little too much, people will talk. If you go against the grain in a meeting and disagree with someone, you’re branded “the problem child”.

There’s really nothing you can do to control what other people say and think about you.

However, should you have your eye on stepping into a new pair of shoes at work for advancement, I’m here to support and remind you,

it’s time to revisit your M-O:

• How do you respond to questions?
• Do you listen well when others speak or do you jump in as soon as they stop talking?
• Do you end e-mails with too many exclamation points?  Thx for your help !!! 
• Are you a little too casual for casual summer Fridays?
• Do you continue to hang around for Monday morning chit-chat and chime in on personal stories to catch up or do you hit the ground running each morning?

These are just some thoughts you can consider to begin living and breathing the role you’ve carved out for yourself. Even leveraging your fashion strut is up for grabs. Here’s an article from my career column on making use of your hip pocket to turn heads in your direction. Dear readers, I leave you here with one powerful message:

If you own the part, you get the part.

Simple right? Learn more: Seminar programming next held in London at Kings College of London November 3 or 10th. Pick your Saturday.

Follow us: @InRShoes.
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