Signs that you suck at your job include never being involved in key decisions, always being left out of the loop in the office, being disregarded or even completely overlooked and / or ignored by line management and a complete absence of any personal development initiated by yourself to make improvements in the key areas that are vital to your role. You may also have failed to hit important targets on more occasions than you can count.
The truth is, there is an enormous difference between sucking at your job and being in the wrong job. The issue might not entirely be you. Through effective professional coaching sessions you’ll be able to determine the root cause of your lack of performance in the work place.
The good news is that even if you’re convinced that you suck at your job, you can find the source of your lack of motivation to want to improve and remedy it. That lack of motivation might even come from the job itself.
FIND OUT WHY YOU SUCK AT YOUR JOB
One statement is almost always true. It’s very rare that someone who isn’t achieving a high level of work performance is unskilled or untalented. That’s absolutely not the case.
Knowledge is power. If you believe that you suck at your job, then it’s important to display a little self-honesty and consider the following areas.
#1-Do You Constantly Go Against Or With The Grain?
Going against the grain means to constantly contest directives provided to you by line management and generally not share in the overriding vision and goals that your company is trying to achieve. It’s a classic sign that you suck at your job.
Going against the grain can be vital sometimes if you’re passionate about your company performing better. In fact, it just shows that you care. If you’re the kind of person who does this all of the time however, line management are more likely to simply find it irritating. If you could step out of yourself when firing off these questions, you’d probably even find it irritating to listen to, too!
The question you should consider asking yourself is, are the questions you’re frequently asking to line management and the points you’re raising really constructive and worthy of note, or are the issues you’re raising not truly issues at all. Deep down, is the issue perhaps simply how you feel about your workplace?
If the latter question resonates with you, begin to step back and look at why you feel the way you do. Is it because the company isn’t functioning effectively and you’re trying to help, or is it because you’re feeling frustrated about your current professional position and results?
If it’s the latter, it’s time to consider whether or not you want to advance with the company you work for. If you do? It’s time to home in on how to please the people that need to be pleased, with the most important person on that list always being you.
It’s worth noting that going against the grain can also be a mechanism that people use to deflect responsibility and internal reflection. The most insightful members of the senior management team know this, which is why you should try to only raise issues when noteworthy issues truly arise. That’s the last thought process you want anyone to have about you.
#2-When Was The Last Time That You Invested In Your Professional Development?
Investing doesn’t have to mean spending money. Sure, some people spend thousands on professional development courses but you don’t have to do that. Another sign that you suck at your job is when you haven’t made your professional results and advancement a priority whilst you’ve been working for a company.
In other words, since day one, you’ve been coasting along. The truth is that you can’t feel bitter when you see others advance and progress if you haven’t put in the groundwork necessary to do the same yourself. Groundwork doesn’t include constantly complaining either (constructive feedback is fine though! As long as it genuinely is constructive and not primarily lead by your current emotional state.)
Whether it’s attending seminars, online courses, having professional coaching sessions or creating systems of work to use for yourself or your workplace as a whole that make things easier. Even learning new skills and sharing constructive ideas. It’s all professional development. Can you honestly say that you’ve been doing anything along these lines lately?
If not, how are you going to advance tomorrow if you aren’t changing anything about the way that you work today? Think about the areas you find the most challenging and focus on using, creating or learning any resources required to amplify results in these areas.
#3-When Was The Last Time You Laid Yourself Bare?
Laying yourself bare means truly opening up to someone, whether it’s your line manager, a colleague or a professional coach.
Though it’s uncomfortable for almost everyone, sooner or later, if you truly want to improve your workplace results because you think you suck at your job then you really need to put your hand up and say “I’m struggling in this area. What do I need to do?”
This is one of the biggest, boldest and most respect worthy questions you can ever ask. Especially to a line manager. Take full ownership of the areas where you haven’t been performing as you’d like and find out exactly what the other person believes you could do to improve.
YOU THINK YOU SUCK AT YOUR JOB-BUT YOU MIGHT JUST BE IN THE WRONG JOB
If you feel like you suck at your job but you’ve gone through all of the above reflection points and more but you still don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere, the chances are that actually, you probably don’t suck at your job at all.
You might think that you suck at your job, but perhaps the truth is that your job just isn’t right for you? You could actually be doing your best and achieving great results but still waking up daily feeling like things just aren’t working.
You might also be doing everything you can and receiving no indication that you’re doing well. A sign that it’s time to move on is when you only experience negative feelings and receive negative communication in the workplace despite being able to say that you’ve done everything possible to drive forward movement.
If this is the case, it’s unlikely that the problem is you if you’ve genuinely tried to remedy any issues that your line management make you aware of. Tell us in the comments section about a time when you felt like you sucked at a job vs where you are now. What lead to the change?