Being Brave at Work: Asking for Help
October 15th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
You’ve made a mess of things with an important project. The orders you placed for one client are mixed up with those for another. The accounting is all tangled up, you clients are getting angry, and you can’t fulfill your promises. The situation seems hopeless, and you are certain you are going to be fired.
We make mistakes all the time but the key to limiting their effects is asking for help. While it is difficult to admit that we are wrong, a larger problem is that we do not know who to turn to.
Before you encounter problems, try to find a mentor at your company. A mentor does not have to be your immediate superior; all you need is another employee who has seniority and knows the company intimately. By networking with your co-workers, you can determine who has the most to teach you.
The next step is to work up the courage to speak with your mentor-to-be, but make sure you have a clear idea of what you need from the partnership. Most likely, the person you ask will be honored by the idea and will agree to help you out. Once you have established a relationship with your mentor, you will have someone to run to when you no longer know what to do.