If you aren’t able to succeed, it’s easy to round up the usual blame suspects: office politics, a nasty boss, lazy subordinates — virtually anyone except yourself. But if you’re discovering that success is harder to find than Sasquatch, consider whether you might be the career saboteur.

Today’s and next week’s columns will look at the Seven Deadly Workplace Sins, one of those contrived lists that journalists love to put together because most of us have never learned to count past seven. Today’s are for managers; the ones next week will be for rank-and-filers. In both columns, we’ll try to go beyond the obvious, so you won’t find one that says Don’t Participate in Wear Your Underwear On The Outside Day.

Here we go:

— Rely almost exclusively on job interviews. If you have good instincts and think of yourself as a good manager (and who doesn’t?), you might think that you can spot talented people based on one or two conversations. And that might work most of the time, but it also sets you up to get conned.

Check people’s references. Give job applicants assignments so you can see them in action and find out how they think. Find out what the grapevine says — beyond the people the applicant wants you to talk with.

A few hiring mistakes can make a good manager into an unemployed one.

Another reason a hiring mistake can be so deadly is that managers won’t admit they goofed. Instead of firing the incompetent worker, they will compound the mistake by giving that person more credibility than he deserves or forcing others to take on extra work because he can’t handle it.

— Treat all your workers the same. Some people thrive from telecommuting; others fail. Some make many personal phone calls or come to work early or late, but seem to function better that way.

You should certainly be fair, but not arbitrary. If someone needs unusual conditions to thrive, go for it — and explain to everyone else that that’s one of the perks of being a great worker.

— Offer ineffective praise and criticism. Specific, sincere praise can work magic. So can specific, constructive criticism. Just make sure the comments are timely — don’t save them for performance review time — and make sure they have enough detail so that workers can learn from them.

A vague and well-intentioned “nice job” won’t get the job done. It’s too easy for that to sound perfunctory rather than sincere.

— Unwittingly punish your best workers. Do you pay less attention to your top employees because you’re so preoccupied with your weaker ones? Do you pile more work or uglier hours on your best people because others can’t handle it?

Managers have a habit of not appreciating talent until it’s too late, says syndicated columnist Bob Rosner, who has written several workplace books. As the economy improves, he said, “I think companies could be surprised at how quickly people will be voting with their feet.”

In their book “Gray Matters,” Rosner and co-authors Allan Halcrow and John Lavin offer their own list of seven deadly workplace sins, mostly for rank-and-filers: anger, dysfunction, exhaustion, incompetence, obsolescence, surrender and withdrawal.

— Stonewall people. When people make suggestions, you have teaching opportunities. Say yes and they learn how much ideas matter. Say no and they learn from your explanation. Or say nothing and they learn that you simply don’t care about them.

— Micromanage employees. Although some newcomers or inferior workers might need this, everyone else will almost certainly resent you for looking over their shoulders.

One time when this is the most common is when people get promoted. If they can’t let go of the job they had before, the new person will feel micromanaged and the new boss will feel overwhelmed.

— Let your insecurity overwhelm your decision-making. Surround yourself with smart people and listen to them — even if they’re ambitious and even if they disagree with you. Sure, one of them might pose a threat to your career one day, but surrounding yourself with sycophants will pose a threat to your career every day.