Is Being a Perfectionist Hurting Your Career?

Being a perfectionist is a personality trait characterized by a person striving for flawlessness and setting high performance standards.?I would add sometimes unachievable standards.

Everyone wants to do well in their career and produce work that is top quality. We strive towards delivering with impact in a way we can be proud to attach our name. The question comes up, or should be asked, is, “When is it good enough and not necessary to be absolutely perfect?”

Does trying to do things perfectly have its place? Of course. I wouldn’t want a brain surgeon ending my procedure saying, “I think we got pretty close. That’s good enough.” Nor is it okay for the data in the annual report to be “a little off.”

On the other hand, should any of us need to edit an e-mail five times before sending, change or rotate slides 56 and 57 over and over even though the information has not changed?

Here are Some Perfectionist Pitfalls in the Workplace

Must be perfect:?Perfectionist tend to see everything of equal importance and very black and white (perfect/not perfect). They give the same attention to detail when dressing for a casual day at home as they do to their tax returns. Their daily calendar seems to get especially high scrutiny. There is no balance or priorities because it all feels essential and critical.

Steals time you don’t have:?The last five, ten, even twenty percent of the time you spend tweaking your work often doesn’t get you or the project any further or more accolades. It steals time from the items sitting on your to do list.

Delays others:?Few of us work independently. Others rely on us to do our piece and then pass it on to the next level. Perfectionist often can’t let go and by holding on, they delay others, causing friction and stress to everyone.

Critical of self:?No one suffers more than the perfectionist. There’s a mean inner voice that constantly says, “You’re not good enough.” They are tortured by goals that can never be met.

Alienates others:?Working with a perfectionist can make the rest of us look at our own inadequacies — a not very useful exercise. People avoid the perfectionist and surely don’t want to work for them causing isolation and loneliness. Depression is common among perfectionist.

Costly:?Going for the gold costs time and money, often hours and dollars you don’t have, and your employer doesn’t want to spend.

People want to please you:?Because perfectionists are so strident, people around you, staff members, feel the need to make you happy by meeting your standards. The commitment is short-lived and can lead to resentment.

Contagious:?If you manage others, understand your staff can easily catch your perfectionistic tendencies. Pushing for the best is one thing, work never being good enough is demoralizing. You’ll also get the reputation of being the person no one wants to work with or for.

If You Find Yourself in the Perfectionist Spiral

Consult others:?Ask your manager if it’s okay to call it finished. Seek the advice of a trusted colleague as to what is reasonable. Do some reality checking.

Apply the 3Ds:?With each piece of work train yourself to ask, “Can I?delete?this?”?(No one should do it.)?“Can I?delegate?it?”?(Who else can do this?)?Only if neither is possible should you allow yourself to?do?it. Perfectionists like to control and by doing so they often get overloaded with work. Be aware, be vigilant.

Set time limits:?Assess how much time you will dedicate to this project or group of e-mails. Set a timer and hold yourself to that limit.

Create templates:?Write some quality phrases and use them regularly. Every e-mail or text doesn’t need to be an original piece of literature.

Bullet point e-mails:?Stay away from the narratives and use bullet points. It’s easier and quicker to write and easier for the receiver to read.

Calculate your hourly wage:?Take your annual salary + bonus and divide it by 2080 (a forty-hour week). That’s your current hourly rate. Ask yourself would you pay someone that amount for the re-work you are about to do? Rarely.

Be kind and respectful:?To yourself and others. Keep your promises on delivery. Appreciate others have their own style of working.

Remember your successes:?Perfectionist tend to panic seeing what they are working on as the be all and end all. Remind yourself how well you’ve done in the past and try to convince yourself it will happen now and in the future. Put thoughts in perspective.

The workplace has a love/hate relationship with perfectionist employees. They want their output and are stressed working with them. There is a balance where high quality meets reasonable effort and expectations. Self-aware is the first step, knowing the priorities is another. Acceptance of one’s fallibility and limits is as important.

Jane Cranston is an executive coach, career coach and management consultant based in New York City. She shares with success driven executives and professionals, techniques, skills and goal setting strategies that accelerates their career trajectory, increases people management skills, and assists them in career change or job transitions. Receive Jane’s free “Competitive Edge Report” and the free audio download “Creating a Career Strategy” by visiting?https://www.executivecoachny.com .