By

Ramon Greenwood

Common Sense Career Advice

It is wise to spend some time examining the question as to why people make bad decisions because there’s an inescapable correlation between the quality of one’s decisions at work and the total of one’s career success.

“Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How To Keep It From Happening To You”, a new book co-authored by Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, provides some keen insight on the issue.

Mr. Finkelstein and his co-authors studied research in neuroscience and psychology and concluded there are four reasons good managers make bad decisions.

1. They tend to rely on past experiences. Situations seldom are exactly like what’s happened in the past.

2. Decisions are driven by self-interest. That force is always at work even when it is not recognized.

3. Decisions are based on judgment made before all the facts are available and sticking with them even when later findings indicate a chance of course.

4. Decisions are strongly influenced by attachments to people, places or things that managers are reluctant to change or give up.

The reader of this book will be made aware of steps managers can take to avoid making bad decisions along their career path.

One is to be aware that there is no such thing as complete objectivity. Managers can shift in favor of making good decisions by recognizing biases and guarding against them.

Another step that will help assure good decisions is to avoid the trap of the yes man syndrome by encouraging open debate by people who have differences of opinion.

Other career coaches teach that bad decisions are made because the right questions are not asked in the process. Another obstacle is that more information is assembled than is needed. Fact gathering is confused with decision-making. This often occurs because no one wants to step up and make a decision.

A contributing factor to bad decisions is that the wrong mode has been employed in the process.

Decisions are usually made in one of three ways, each of which can lead to a sound conclusion if used in the proper context. 

1. An immediate decision is required so the person in charge “commands”.

2. Time permits assimilating opinions and reaching a decision.

3. Arriving at a consensus so as to help assure support by those who participated in the decision.

The key is to make sure the correct mode is put to work.

Each decision carries with it some degree of risk as well as reward. Traveling a career path to success requires the courage and ability to make good decisions. To be a good manager one doesn’t have to be right all of the time, just most of the time to reach his career goals.

About Author

For free career coaching click here: http://www.commonsenseatwork.com. You’ll receive The Career Accelerator, Ramon Greenwood’s semi-monthly newsletter. You can also visit his Your Blog For Career Advice via this route. Greenwood’s coaching comes from a world of experience, including serving as Senior Vice President of American Express, an entrepreneur, professional director, career coach and author.

Related Post:

• Career Advice: Stick To The Truth In Your Resume

No doubt about it. These are tough times. Jobs are hard to come by and to hold. It is not surprising, then, that job seekers may be tempted to pad their resumes. That is, be less than truthful about their skills, experience, even their references. 

Don’t, don’t do it; stick to the facts. There may appear to be benefits to lying on your resume in the short term, but in the longer view it threatens ultimate career rewards.  

While only 8 percent of applicants admit to fibbing about their career path in their resumes according to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com, nearly half of hiring managers surveyed say they have caught candidates lying on their resumes.

Those who make hiring decisions are more apt than ever before to check references. The smart applicants get the approval of references and make sure they will be positive before including them in their resumes and covering letters.

Human resources people are better equipped and more alert than ever to spot transgressions such as grossly inflating accomplishments, positions and salary to the extent they don’t jibe with age and education/training; being inaccurate about dates to cover gaps in a career path; overstating compensation.

At the same time, they are flooded with a growing number of applications for a shrinking number of openings, so they have less time to review resumes…sometimes only minutes for each. Therefore, even the hint of lies and exaggerations is enough to consign an application to the trashcan. Nearly six out of ten in the survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com said they automatically dismissed the application.

Even if a dishonest resume leads to a job, the fact that it exists will be a source of stress and distraction. Worse case, it can still come back to haunt you if the truth comes out, as is likely currently or in the future. Overstating experience can also lead to failure by putting an applicant in a job he can’t handle.

Hiring managers expect applicants to put the best face on their resumes and covering letters. At the same time, they demand facts to support claims. This leaves plenty of opportunity to make the case for getting hired with a concise resume that reflects an understanding of the employer’s needs and showing a convincing story of how one’s qualifications serve those needs.

“The vast majority of people facing career changes are immensely better qualified than their self-written resumes”, says Bryan Newman, Certified Professional Resume Writer.

“…a successful resume (tells) the reader what you have accomplished that makes you a better candidate for the job than others in the field. Recruiters look for candidates whose resumes are crafted around a solid list of career achievements.”

By the way, the fact is that some employers may lie also, promising opportunities and rewards they can’t deliver. (But that doesn’t excuse your falsifying your career path.)  Check them out before spending time and effort in making applications.

About Author

For free career coaching click here: http://www.commonsenseatwork.com. You’ll receive The Career Accelerator, Ramon Greenwood’s semi-monthly newsletter. You can also visit his Your Blog For Career Advice via this route. Greenwood’s coaching comes from a world of experience, including serving as Senior Vice President of American Express, an entrepreneur, professional director, career coach and author.

Related Post:

• Career Advice: Why Do People Make Bad Decisions?