New Pros will be a series of blog posts targeting transitioning professionals entering the digital sphere. I welcome any specific questions those may have or concepts you would like me to go into in depth. Please feel free to contact me here for more advice and consultation.

One significant character trait of new professionals is that we learn early on to organize our work lives in such a way that they stay as balanced as possible.  When everything goes right, we want to be recognized for our contributions as confidence that our strategies do work in best practice. Yet when things don’t turn out as we had arranged, this catches us off guard because we rely so heavily on our well-planned agendas to get positive results.  

Being held accountable is about building trust.  New professionals as leaders are expected to do what they say they are going to do and follow up on assignments and tasks until completion.  It is easy to take the easy way out in deed as well as word, and outlined below are 3 annoyances that new professionals as leaders should stop doing in order to be more accountable in their work:    

1.  Stop blaming.  There’s a focal point that leaders need to come to terms with early on: no one but you is responsible for your behavior, so do not make excuses for it.  Taking responsibility when things go wrong in any given situation in which you are at fault does not indicate weakness, it shows maturity. When the focus in on you, you will make smarter, better decisions.  Evaluate your work periodically and look for ways to progress in eliminating negative impact. Also, be principled in shaping your actions in a way that recognizes that what you do may affect others. This will help in being able to answer for any unforeseen circumstances that may be the cause of your lack of attention.

2.  Stop bragging.  For those on a career track to move up professionally in as little time as possible, standing out as an individual is important.  In effort to prove their strengths in business, new professionals can be overly protective of their work, and may feel pressured to exaggerate their credentials in trying to beat out the competition.  Being authentic in business is important in building a brand though, and professionals should be clear about what is expected of them first, and then work on excelling at it. In addition, don’t over-emphasize your accomplishments in front of co-workers and friends.  They will appreciate you more for being humble, and your actions illustrate your competence better than your tall tales can.

3.  Stop whining.  Do you know what is worse than failing at a challenge?  Constantly subjecting people to the same complaints over and over again about that given failure.  Complaining will not make you feel better, but being proactive about making necessary changes to avoid pitfalls may.

The final step in dealing with the consequences of your actions when things go sour is to be honest with yourself and others if you are the one at fault.  Learning to take accountability is a leadership skill that is always welcomed in any profession.