All too often, young and tenured professionals alike make the mistake of NOT asking for help. Whether it’s the insecurity of not being current or understanding new material – not requesting help is a galactic rookie flaw.

The point of being successful in your job should be, well, self evident. I’ve seen too many marketing and PR “experts” wave their right to critical insights simply because that, in their elevated position, there’s a feeling they shouldn’t have to. That it’s better to position yourself as “in the know,” and wing it.  (People like this frequently end up in swank executive roles, only to have the rug swept from underneath them when faced with real challenges.)

Young professionals simply need to grow. Recently, I gave a young project manager at our office a significant task – slightly outside of her usual bailiwick. It was so refreshing to have her first digest the information, and then come back to me with a number of question on how to manage goals, expectations, and some direction on how to accomplish our objectives. My reaction wasn’t critical on her level of experience, but rather, praise for her honesty and willingness to do the job well.

In my experience of dealing with Fortune 100 execs and thoroughly talented business thinkers, it is clear to me why these individuals accomplish substantial goals. They have a genuine interest in the advancement of their pursuits and understand, amongst many other things, that asking for help is simply a means of achieving their ends. On the other hand, executives that feel “posturing” is more important than substance will (eventually) find their place among applicants and middle management.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 10:02 am and is filed under State of the PR Industry, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.