Career advancement isn’t determined solely by competence or hard work; it is heavily influenced by how you are perceived by leadership. Many professionals unknowingly practice "invisible habits"—behaviors often learned for safety or humility—that signal a lack of confidence and authority. Below are the five habits sabotaging your career and how to fix them instantly.
1. The Apology Prefix
This habit involves starting sentences with phrases like "Sorry, just a quick thought," or "I might be wrong, but…" While intended to sound humble or non-threatening, these prefixes immediately downgrade the weight of your contribution and signal insecurity.
The Fix: Remove the self-doubt. Replace "I think" with "I believe." Instead of apologizing, use direct openers like "Here is my recommendation" or "One idea we could explore is…"
2. The Conviction Killer
This occurs when you weaken the end of a statement with unnecessary qualifiers like "…I don’t know," "…if that makes sense," or "…that’s just my opinion." This behavior often stems from a fear of criticism, but it signals low clarity and low conviction to leaders.
The Fix: State your point and then stop. Hold the silence. Leaders respect the courage to stand behind an idea without filling the void with retreating language.
3. Vocal Fry
Vocal fry is a low, creaky vibration in the voice that usually happens at the end of a sentence. It is caused by poor breath support (speaking on empty lungs) or a subconscious desire to soften one’s presence. It projects low energy, uncertainty, and even indifference.
The Fix: Improve breath support. Practice breathing before you run out of air to energize the entire sentence. Treat your breath like gas in a car—refuel before you hit empty.
4. Not Speaking Up in Meetings
Many high performers remain silent because they are waiting for the "perfect moment" or an invitation to speak. Silence is often interpreted as disengagement, lack of preparation, or a lack of leadership potential.
The Fix: Do not wait to be invited. Use a framework (like PREP: Point, Reason, Example, Point) to structure thoughts quickly. To interrupt respectfully, acknowledge the previous speaker’s point first ("I love that you brought up X…") and then use that as a bridge to your own contribution.
5. Believing Work Speaks for Itself
This is a common trap where employees assume their results are obvious and that managers see the effort behind the output. However, leaders focus on output and often miss the context, roadblocks removed, or value created behind the scenes. Being invisible leads to career stagnation.
The Fix: Learn to "speak for your work." You don’t need to brag, but you must provide context. Regularly communicate the impact of your results to ensure your reputation matches your output.
Honorable Mentions
Be aware of these additional habits that undermine authority:
- Nodding too much: Makes you appear overly agreeable.
- Speaking too fast: Signals nervousness; taking up space with time shows presence.
- Avoiding eye contact: particularly when delivering key points.
- Overusing soft language: Words like "kind of" or "sort of."
- Indifference: Phrases like "I don’t mind" or "It’s up to you."
Mentoring question
Which of these five habits do you default to when you are feeling unsure of yourself, and what is one specific script or action you will use in your next meeting to counter it?
Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ha5qaiwNHTc&is=DIWrUu7dgl4_BERi