Sometimes a job is not right for you

Whether you are a dedicated employee or a highly skilled consultant, there are times when your work situation just does not work out well. Even the best of employers can create a losing situation while trying to add a new position to the organization.

Very rarely does the organization realize that they created a new position without analyzing how it would affect the existing organization. The fault is usually laid at the feet of the hapless employee who is told that they just didn’t work out.

This can even happen when an existing position is being filled, especially when the previous occupant has left the company.

The basic reason for this lose-lose situation is that your expectations and the company expectations are not aligned. They may sound enough alike that you are persuaded to apply for the job, but in actuality they will not be achievable with the resources and authority that you have at your command.

I have written a book, Danger Quicksand – Have A Nice Day, which explains how this situation and many others occur and what you must do to handle them. People who have read my book have  experienced great relief when they realized that they were not failing at their job, they were trying to do the "undoable job" and getting no credit for the attempt.

I have also had people tell me that they were going to read my book when things "settled down", which is like waiting to put on the life preserver until after the boat capsizes.

Whether one reads my book or not, if a job is not going well when you have been giving it your best for several months, it is time to seek competent advice from someone who has been through the same situation before.

Do not keep taking losses and do not bail out until you know what the actual situation is. When you find out what is actually going on, you will be able to act decisively and you will resolve the situation within days.

It may take longer than that for a complete remedy, but you will have resolved the difficulty in your mind and will find that your sense of purpose has returned.