5 phrases that will get you fired

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(MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY A handful of phrases make me cringe every time I hear them. And when I hear otherwise smart, successful people utter them, I can't help thinking they need serious help.

In speaking with a number of managers and my executive coaching clients, it turns out I'm not alone. Nearly everyone admitted to reacting negatively to these job-shredding phrases:

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1. "There's nothing I can do." Really? You've exhausted every possible solution? This is similar to when my six-year-old says she's looked everywhere for her shoes. When you say that there is nothing you can do, we learn two things about you: You're a liar, and you're lazy -- two qualities that are not going to help you get a raise or even keep your job. We know you are lying because there is always something you can do. And in the remote chance that there really isn't anything you can do, at least tell us everything you've done, what you intend to keep trying, or who you intend to go to who actually can do something. Nobody with a spine has ever uttered these words. By using this phrase, it shows that you are weak, give up easily, and lack all creativity and effectiveness. You don't get paid to be ineffective or lazy, so stop using this horrible phrase.

2. "It's not fair." If you find yourself saying this, grow up. Little Joey doesn't have to share his Tonka truck with you. Of course things aren't fair. It's not fair that millions of young boys and girls are kidnapped or sold into sex slavery each year or that hundreds of millions of people don't have enough to eat. If you are complaining about something trivial, it sounds like you are whining. And who hates whiners? Everyone, including your boss.

3. "That's impossible." There are two kinds of employees -- those who make things happen and those who come up with excuses about why things didn't happen. You don't want to be among the latter. These folks love to discourage creativity and ideas. If it hasn't been done, the thinking goes, then it is not possible. Stop asking if it is possible, and instead start asking how it can be possible. Even if it doesn't work, at least you will be seen as somebody willing to take risks and persevere.

4. "I wish..." When your boss hears you say this, the first thing she is thinking is, "I wish I'd hired someone else." Don't wish, want, or hope anything. As a leader, you go out there and make things happen. You take responsibility and control of the situation. You certainly don't sit back and wish for change. Leaders are drivers, not passengers hoping good things happen. Wishing makes you look lazy and/or ineffective. Your boss wants you to stop talking about what you hope would happen and start making something happen.

5. "But we've always done it that way." Nothing evokes the thought "I've got to fire this guy" quite like this phrase. In one fell swoop you are basically announcing that you are uncreative, lazy, close-minded, inflexible, and ineffective. The managers I've talked to said this is probably the phrase they hear most and the one above all others that gets their blood to boil. Do yourself and the unemployment rate a favor and stop using this phrase.

These are just a handful of phrases that can get you in hot water at work. But can they really get you fired? Absolutely! It's because they expose a deeper malady. In an economy where employers need to be creative and do more with less, employees who use these phrases will be replaced with those who have a better attitude and can get the job done.

[Jr_Online]

Unfortunately, what I have seen too often is companies with bosses saying "This is how we have always done this"

Good to see that maybe the attitude is slowly shifting.

[VeteransBizConsultant]

My favorite "I love working for an Alpha Female". What does that even mean?

[fafa_dad]

In other words, say that the management that sun is shining, when actually is raining like hell outside. Great!
This kind of "mainstream" mentality has driven Tytanic to a sad end. Denying reality is sometimes more dangerous than saying "NOT" in a right moment. This article shall be a bible for all who can not think by themselves. Author has forgotten, that as usually there must be a balance between being oversensitive or pesymistic and irrationally optimistic. Sometimes saying NO in a right moment is better than hitting the wall with a smile on your face. Good manager shall not be an idiot who judge by sentences, but by facts, and acts.
Otherwise he is usually a bozo, detached from a reality.

[Ryan_Search]

Your forgot my favorite: "That's not my job"

[lperets]

Funny, those are exactly the five phrases that when said by my boss will make me quit...

[KBlack01]

Some of these phrases drive me nuts. There really is no such thing as "can't be done" or "impossible" with a normal request. If someone, whether a manager or a customer, is asking for something to be done there is a reason for it. Here is how the conversation should look:
- Ask why and understand what is driving the request, what the desired outcome is, and clarify any other expectations such as budget, timeline, resources
- Determine how it CAN be done. Every problem has multiple solutions.
- Present the alternative solutions to management/customer and explain the pro's/con's, risks, and budget/resource requirements.

The "We have always done it this way" will always be there. Cultural issues are always the biggest problem with any change and if someone is hearing this too much then in most cases the project has not been very good at communicating the change. Users that understand why, where this is leading, and how it will help them or their company tend to back off on this.

[7eni2ss8]

Having been a manager and owner of a business for 27 years, I can see both sides of this. If an ee walks into my office with a problem and does not have a solution, my first reaction is to be automatically skeptical. Having said that, I get the feeling this article is written from the "Embrace the Suck" mentality whereby everything must be answered with "Absolutely Outstanding Sir". This is how we get ourselves backed into the many idiotic situations with yes men and women in business, the military, universities, churches and other organizations of obedience/authority/punishment systems. We MUST have solutions to all situations, even untenable ones that our management have placed us into. We must be loyal and obedient to that system, and we must find ways of showing outstanding ability to fix the situations regardless of where the problems came from, even if the solutions are bad, the costs are high. Just keep kicking the can down the road and hope for the best. We are continuously seeing this mentality, Penn State is just one example, but we can cite dozens and dozens..... I say again, ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING, SIR!

[jsargent100]

While I can understand the point of this article, the way that the article is written is disgusting and skips the real problems. Sometimes things are impossible, unviable and nothing can be done about it. That is when somebody has to make a choice from a list of less favorable solutions. Don't kill the messenger, manage the situation and take control, don't lose control.

[ty2010a]

Sometimes those things need saying, it would have helped on Wall Street.

1. "There's nothing I can do.", legally.

2. "It's not fair." to steer clients to bum investments just so the bank can make money betting against them.

3. "That's impossible." You can't make money insuring subprime loans at prime rates no matter how you bundle them together.

4. "I wish..."I were not asked daily to break and skirt laws, it makes me feel a bit ill at ease.

5. "But we've always done it that way." It's called GAAP accounting, been in use since the 17th century except during scam periods that resulted in several countries going bankrupt, riots, depressions and beheadings.

[VeteransBizConsultant]

I completely agree! Love it

[Jeff_PE]

My favorite one an employee told me, was "I just do concept......I don't do implementation."