Avoiding mistakes is better than correcting them

Friends, family, and even friends of family often approach me for help when they are looking for a new job. Usually this happens after they have spent many frustrating weeks (or months) sending out letters and resumes and responding to jobs posted online or in the newspaper — all without much luck.

Out of desperation, I think, they finally ask for help, knowing that I used to help displaced workers in their job search.

Asking for help is a good thing. It is not a sign of weakness. Rather, it is a recognition and acceptance of limitations. Everyone has limitations. When we recognize and define them, we take the first step toward overcoming them.

In some things, like a job search, it is better to ask for help sooner, rather than later. The poorly written letters and resumes my job-seeking friends had sent to places they really wanted to work created a bad first impression — a tough thing to eradicate.

When they finally asked for help, we had to strategize a new job-search plan that could overcome their mistakes. That was not an impossible task, but it was more difficult than it needed to be.

New practitioners who open their own clinics are like those job seekers. Asking for help sooner rather than later avoids having to overcome the consequences of bad decisions.

How do you know if you need help and advice from a professional? A question I put to job seekers was this: How often do you look for a job? Does your experience give you the expertise to know the best way to do it?

Expertise is generally acquired through exposure, knowledge, and experience. So, as you endeavor to open a clinic or to grow your practice, the question you may want to ask yourself is: Do you have the expertise to do this without making serious mistakes?

If the answer is “no,” perhaps it is time to ask for help.

In this issue, we asked a panel of management consultants to tell us about the most serious mistakes they see both new and experienced practitioners make and share their ideas on how you can avoid these mistakes.

We hope you’ll enjoy what they have to say, as well as the rest of the articles.

Until next time,

Linda Segall, Editor-in-Chief