ClearRock

BOSTON - Although a lot of people like surprises in their personal lives, most managers, employees, and customers dread them because they are usually bad news. Just like the stock of a publicly traded company is usually penalized for delivering an unexpected negative "earnings surprise," the stock in a manger's or executive's career declines when too many unpleasant surprises mount, according to ClearRock, an executive coaching and outplacement firm headquartered in Boston.

"There are bound to be unexpected developments in business that are beyond your control, and people realize that. But the worst kind of surprises that managers and executives can make concern circumstances within their control that they intentionally or unintentionally spring on people," said Annie Stevens, managing partner for ClearRock.

ClearRock cautions managers and executives to be continually on the watch not to commit any of the following seven unpleasant surprises that can help sink their careers:

• Forgetting to inform direct reports and/or co-workers that you've volunteered their assistance. "This can be as innocent as a busy executive failing to 'close the loop' with the person involved, but it comes across to the recipient as being blind-sided by a careless, thoughtless person," said Greg Gostanian, managing partner for ClearRock.
• Failing to inform fellow employees about new co-workers until after they've started on the job. "This is particularly unfair to the new hire, because other people's resentment over being kept in the dark will frequently be directed toward him or her," said Stevens. "People who begin their careers with organizations this way are usually viewed with suspicion as long as they work there."
• Not fully explaining to a new employee the true nature of the job for which he or she is being hired. "This is often done intentionally out of fear that the person won't take the job if all the facts are known. Unfortunately, it doesn't make the difficult task to be done any easier, and adds an element of mistrust," said Gostanian.
• Missing deadlines. "Missing deadlines for an internal project, or for an external customer, is equally serious. Whenever a deadline is given - either by the manager or as dictated by the project - the expectation is that it will be kept, and not serve as an approximate date for completion," said Stevens.
• Over-promising. "Some people have a tendency to over-promise, hoping this will motivate them more toward meeting these lofty goals. However, promises about results are viewed the same way as deadlines, and unrealistic objectives should be avoided," said Gostanian.
• Budgetary surprises and/or cost over-runs. "Internal and external customers expect a realistic reporting of costs, and are very unforgiving when these are suddenly out of line," said Stevens.
• Unexpected hand-offs. "The whole nature of individual career development depends on growing people in their jobs, assigning them more responsibilities, and hiring new employees. However, external and internal customers should know about these 'hand-offs' before they occur - especially when a more junior-level person will be taking over - and not after the switch has occurred," said Gostanian.