S05E06: Career Death By a Thousand Cuts: 5 Behaviors to Avoid

Your reputation at work is a form of political capital, and you’re either investing in it or quietly draining it away. In this episode, we pull back the curtain on five common workplace behaviors that silently damage your personal brand and limit your career growth. From passive-aggressive habits to over-apologizing, these are patterns managers notice even if you think they don’t.

You’ll learn:

• How these behaviors erode trust, credibility, and influence over time.
• Why they’re career killers even if you’re competent, skilled, or well-liked.
• Real-world examples and research-backed insights that reveal the hidden costs.
• Practical, easy-to-apply strategies to replace bad habits with reputation-building ones.

Whether you’re aiming for your next promotion, want to become a go-to team member, or simply want to avoid being first on the layoff list, this conversation will give you a candid look at what really matters to managers—and how to make sure you’re on the right side of it.

🎯 If you think your work speaks for itself, think again. The way you show up every day speaks louder—make sure it’s saying the right things.

References:

Porath, C.L., & Erez, A. (2012). "How Rudeness Takes Its Toll: The Effects of Incivility on Task Performance and Helpfulness." Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1), 93–107.

Hess, U., Blairy, S., & Kleck, R.E. (2016). "The Social Consequences of Emotional Suppression." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Lam, C.F., Walter, F., & Huang, X. (2020). "Supervisors' Emotional Exhaustion and Team Members' Passive–Aggressive Behavior: The Role of Ethical Leadership." The Leadership Quarterly, 31(4).

Foster et al. (2018), Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Okimoto, T. G., & Wenzel, M. (2015). “The Downside of Saying Sorry: Overapologizing in the Workplace.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

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