Jeff worked for me for two years and at time I moved on, I was still asking him to find out. For Jeff and people like Jeff, "I don't know" is a habitual way to reduce their task list. To them, "I don't know" ends it. What they don't realize is what else it ends in minds of their bosses, clients or customers.

It baffles me that someone thinks saying "I don't know" suffices when it involves their work responsibilities. It baffles me how frequently people offer their best guesses like factual answers. And it baffles me, in my twenty years in management, how surprisingly few people took small step to find out. Those who did stood out. They went from guessing to knowing. Find out answers and you'll build knowledge that differentiates you.

Want to be winning at working? Stop guessing; start knowing. The next time you find yourself venturing a guess on an important answer, pause. Then reframe your response with, "I don't know for sure, but I'll find out for you." Not only will you be adding to your knowledge base, but when you find out and follow up with person, you'll be building your credibility and crossing an important performance line.

(c) 2005 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.

Support comes in many different forms. Here we will look at three:

1.Friends and family – We all have them, ones that say they are in our corner but seem to talk us out of what we say we want most. These folks must be avoided during this time because you are in a place where you can easily be talked out of going in direction you want to go. You want to seek anyone who will just say, “That sounds great!” You also want to seek people who are ten steps closer to where you want to be and seek their support when you need it.

2.Mentors – Clients have said, “ I wish I just had a mentor that could guide me.” Mentors are great and we can all use them, but not until we know what we need from them. It is not a mentor’s job to tell us what we want and how to get it. It is our job to know what career we want so a mentor can lend us their expertise in getting it. So seek your mentor when you know what it is you want and match their skills and experience to your achieving it.

3.A Career Coach – A good coach will help you get clear on career you want and teach you skills you will need to achieve it. They will help you to overcome your negative beliefs, teach you how to make most use of your power to get what you really want and how to put your attention only on what you want. A good coach will teach you how to become a “Career Creator”, not a job seeker. They will guide you to find your right job, not just your next job.

We are all very capable of being our own worst support. Seeking right support when you have hope that you will find your right career is critical to your moving out of your slump and towards work you know will really satisfy you.