Withholding Expertise: Career-Limiting Belief #13

As the typical engineer's education process teaches that student's grades are directly related to intelligence and contribution, many engineers join organizations with a mindset that they are in competition with their colleagues. This often shows up as a set of behaviors under the label of withholding information in order to maintain control, influence, and job security. People who display this type of behavior have decided that it is in their best interest to look like an expert to others. This behavior pattern is usually generated from a position of fear, a fear that their position is at risk or that they will not be valued enough. This chapter informs that ultimately, all of those poor beliefs, mindsets, and states affect how the engineer acts at work. Having the confidence to share expertise can do more for the career than withholding information to maintain a false sense of power.