by Laura Benjamin

Warning: This article pokes a little good-natured fun at the self-destructive human behaviors that ultimately contribute to our own undoing!

You’ve just been handed a pink slip and it couldn’t come as more of a surprise! Perhaps they told you it's because you were downsized, re-engineered, acquired or merged. It’s nothing personal, you know, it's just business! You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…simply a matter of cutting positions, not people.

Perhaps! However, it may also be due to your work performance or quality of personal relationships. Both count when it comes down to who stays or who leaves. Here are the top 10 reasons why you may have been the "lucky" one:

1. Attitude, baby! You made it obvious you really didn’t want to be there, through your facial expressions, your words, and your actions. Behavior is the only data point people have to determine your intent, commitment, and reliability.

2. You were out the door at 5pm every night. Yes, life balance is important, but so is showing you can suck it up and put in a little extra time and energy when its needed. Making a big deal out of how they won’t get any more than 35 or 40 hours out of you is career suicide.

3. You didn’t like your boss and it showed. Make your choice early on. Either you can work with this person or you can’t. If not, get yourself out of there because it’s going to hurt you one way or the other. Your relationship with the boss is the #1 factor, according to a recent Gallup study, influencing performance and job satisfaction.

4. You weren’t willing to put in the time to ‘earn your stripes.’ Have you heard the phrase, there is no free lunch? My grandfather used to say it this way, "No work – no eats!" You’ve got to do the time, put out the effort and earn your way up the ladder and there is no easy way around it. Those who expect to get something for nothing will alienate their co-workers, their managers, and their customers.

5. You consistently complained without offering solutions. Nobody likes a whiner and while we all have our moments when we need to "vent", you’ll lose credibility unless you can offer solutions at the same time you point out flaws in the system.

6. You didn’t have the best interests of your employees, customers, or co-workers at heart. You’re a poster child for WIIFM (what’s in it for me). Yes, it’s important to stick up for yourself, but not to the exclusion of serving those around you.

7. You were ‘high maintenance’ – i.e. you took more of everyone’s time than you contributed in results.

8. You told others you were looking for another job. Absolutely do not share your intentions with co-workers unless you’re willing for it to get back to your boss…it always does. Go look for another job, if that’s the choice you’ve made, but keep it to yourself until you are willing to make it public. Also, don’t play the "Mom against Dad" game by expecting your boss to counter offer. Even if they do make you a better offer and you decide to stay, they’ll never trust you again.

9. You gossiped about your boss and your co-workers. This is one of the most destructive habits going and we’ve all been guilty at one time or another. The problem is, people quickly learn that if you talk poorly about others, you’ll eventually get around to them! The next time you open your mouth to say something bad about another person, consider this…how perfect are you?

10. People couldn’t get work done through you, so they learned how to go around you. Your co-workers sized you up pretty quickly and decided you are more of a barrier than a conduit. Figure out which personal quality contributes to this reputation and work to temper it.

The information on this web site is copyright © 2001-2008 by Laura Benjamin and Pinehurst Press Ltd. Creative Commons. Some rights reserved. Permission to reprint with attribution please and a live link to http://www.LauraBenjamin.com. Please contact me to complete any "Permission to Use Copyrighted Material" documentation. Thank you in advance!

Laura Benjamin is a Colorado Communication, Career and Marketing Coach, professional speaker, strategic planning facilitator and writer. She is also the Author of The C.A.R.L.A. Concept™: How to Raise an Issue, Prove Your Point and Communicate with Confidence & Clarity. To interview Laura or access her free educational and entertaining audio podcasts, blog posts and articles, please visit www.LauraBenjamin.com.