I made a ton of mistakes when I first started my career…

1. I wasted time trying to figure out my job expectations, and I didn’t know how to get answers from my boss.

I spent my days “hoping” what I was doing day-to-day was the right thing - not realizing that I should have been given some sort of training or job description.

I tried to ask my boss for direction, but getting clarity on our team strategy was like pulling teeth. We were not on the same page, but I was being told I was “doing great.”

It didn’t feel great being unsure if I was actually meeting expectations. This caused me to work on a bunch of “urgent” tasks that were just the “flavor of the day.” So I started setting strategic goals for myself and aligning all my daily and weekly tasks to work toward making progress on those goals.

2. I would get frustrated when I felt like others on the team weren’t pulling their weight or doing what I thought their role should be doing.

Ever felt like this? I’m sure! But are each person’s job descriptions or responsibilities mapped out and visible to all on the team?

When new people come onto the team or teams re-organize, there should be some sort of accountability matrix. I felt that others who were in a similar role to mine were responsible for less and that my workload was unmanageable for a healthy work/life balance. I wasn’t able to demonstrate this in an objective way without sounding like I was complaining or judging other’s abilities to manage their workload. Clearly, I tried being a hero and superhuman, but I was burning out and unable to keep up. Why was this okay?

I started mapping out each role’s accountabilities and responsibilities and when they are consulted and informed.

3. I felt disconnected from my work when I felt like the tasks I was doing weren’t directly related to a higher purpose or in alignment with company values.

I had a solid “why” for being in healthcare, but there were some things that I was being asked to do that didn’t feel aligned with the company mission. When our organization set goals in specific areas, I realized that I could create my strategic goals based on those larger company goals.

I used this goal cascading strategy to eliminate work that didn’t feel like it aligned with those company values or goal areas. I was able to eliminate a ton of busy work by doing this.

4. I didn’t have a network of people I could ask for help or collaborate with to accomplish projects.

I often lacked the contacts I need to communicate specific workflow changes or to get work approved by adjacent teams. My boss would list off first names of people without ever explaining who they were or making warm introductions for me.

I quickly realized that I would need to make these connections myself.

As I learned who key stakeholders were, I created a stakeholder contact list and shared it with my team so that others would have it and we could keep it updated and share with new folks we onboard in the future.

5. I lacked leader support and didn’t have dedicated time with my boss to get help prioritizing my work or escalating barriers.

I would try to catch my boss in the hallway or when they’d pop their head in our team office when I stayed late in the evenings so that I could desperately get my ideas heard and ask for guidance.

There was never enough time to get all barriers escalated.

When I became a leader and eventually a leader of leaders, I knew how important dedicated time for my people was. I scheduled regular 1:1’s with each person and ensured my boss had dedicated time on their calendar for me. I prioritize this time with my people over meetings and other to-do items as having their trust and supporting them is most important.

6. I wasn’t clear about my communication preferences or my work boundaries.

I found myself taking phone calls from my evening and night shift at 10pm over things they could look up in our standard operating procedures or workflow documents. But instead they would call me for a quick answer because that was easier for them.

I would check work email at home, and I would be responding to non-urgent emails at 7 or 8pm out of fear of falling behind or thinking people wanted an immediate response. Some leaders on my team thought that meant I wanted a response late into the evening, when I actually didn’t! It was a vicious cycle.

I realized that whenever I felt triggered or frustrated, that was a sign that I needed to create a boundary. Instead of assuming people knew what my boundaries were, I communicated them clearly by sharing them with my team and being intentional about when I needed to flex or change them over time.

7. I had no idea how my performance would be appraised and how that would affect my salary and pay.

I knew I wanted to get a great performance review, but I wasn’t told how to achieve a meets, exceeds, or exceptional rating. Was there a rubric or definitions?

I tried to set my own goals, but I didn’t have any direction from my leader to know if those were aligned with the organization.

I learned about SMART goal setting and aligning my goals to directly impact the organization’s goals or found a way to articulate how my work positively affected the broader mission. I always knew what my performance review would be before going into the annual review because I would ask for feedback on my goal progress throughout the year.

8. I spent a ton of time checking to-do’s off my list, but struggled to make meaningful progress on bigger goals because I was always “putting out fires.”

I kept a huge list of to-do items and future ideas that never got any shorter. As soon as I checked something off, something else got added. I felt overwhelmed.

There were days when I kept getting pulled away from my work to support the team, but I didn’t have a system to re-schedule work I’d hoped to work on when instead I was putting out a fire or solving an urgent problem.

I discovered Leader Standard Work and built my schedule into blocks of time just to work on projects that were strategically aligned to my goals. I built in time for recurring tasks like email inbox management and daily huddles, AND I discovered the concept of leaving space on my calendar to allow for time with my team, space for interruptions, and flexibility between work tasks.

9. I fell into victim mode when it came to my professional learning at work.

I blamed my leader for not sharing development opportunities with me and took it personally.

I wished that interesting conferences or internal trainings would “come my way,” but that didn’t happen, and I became frustrated with the organization.

I realized that many people aren’t interested in professional development, so if I wanted extra opportunities or to take classes, I had to take accountability for my learning and seek out courses ask to shadow people I respected.

…but I knew it should be easier to create an awesome career that I loved, so I took accountability for my future.