Don’t use these 2 toxic words at work, says executive coach [Video]

“Eric” is a program manager at a fast-scaling tech company. He’s hungry for career growth and perfectly positioned to take on more responsibility. He’s eager for exposure to senior management and hopeful he’ll eventually advance to a director-level position. 

Yet despite his ambition and potential, Eric finds himself constantly repeating two toxic words: I’ll wait. 

• “I’ll wait until I’ve finished this major project rollout,” he tells himself when a new leadership opportunity opens up. 
• “I’ll wait until after my quarterly review to bring this up,” he decides when considering whether to pitch an idea to his boss. 
• “I’ll wait until the new year to be firmer about my work hours,” is how he rationalizes answering emails at 11 p.m. yet again.
• “I’ll wait until things are calmer before I ask for a raise,” is what he tells himself, but things never slow down. 

Now, Eric is more of a hypothetical — an amalgamation of …