Are You One Of These Nine Dreadful Personas?
We spend countless hours at work. Yet, we often dread walking through the front doors. Not because work stinks.
But the people. Or...the PERSON.
I've been grateful to work for myself most my life. But, as I grew up in my company, I've had to work with people who drove me nuts. And some of them I hired!
Are You One Of These Nine Dreadful Personas?
Gossiping Gary is always talking about other people's lives. It doesn't seem so bad until he's talking about yours. He thinks he's being friendly but he's building enemies of mistrust. He's a saboteur. A backstabber. A gossiper.
Politicking Paula loves drama. She lives for it. She's on a mission to advance her own career, any way possible. She acts like she wants to work with you. She plays an angle. And when the moment presents itself, she strikes.
Sloppy Sally is a perfectionist of garbage. She's a hard worker but everything she touches is a mess. It looks bad, it's unorganized and there's always an issue.
Lazy Larry is a human sloth. He does nothing. He's friendly and even funny but he contributes nothing to the team. His deadlines are always missed. He's not reliable. And he’s happy doing nothing.
Shady Shane likes to be secretive. He's the guy you get an uneasy feeling about. You ask yourself, what is he up to? Something feels off. And you're right. He's up to something. But he's shady, so you won't know.
Forgetful Fred over commits and under delivers. He likes to say, sure, I'll do that. And then when the times comes, he doesn't deliver. Not because he doesn't care. He forgets. He forgets conversations, promises, and deadlines. He may even forget his birthday.
Silent Sandra enjoys whispering. She smiles. nods and says nothing. You think she's happy but deep down she's miserable. She doesn't say anything. She doesn't speak up. She's silent.
Tiptoeing Tom doesn't like conflict. He doesn't make decisions, he doesn't tell it like it is, and he hates candor. If he gets constructive criticism, he shuts down. He thinks he's doomed. He's fired. He's always tiptoeing.
The Ultimate Sales Sleaze Joey D. loves to sell. He loves to push product and earn a commission. In fact, that's all he talks about. He creates no value for clients, he disrupts the office team and all he wants is money! In fact, he's actually pretty bad at sales. The irony!
Understand your personality, work on the bad and leverage the great
You may read this and think, man, I know that person. Or, that's me!
We've all been one of these at one point or another in our lives. For me, it was the Ultimate Sales Sleaze. For you, it may be one of the others.
Really think to yourself, which one of these is me? If you see one, begin working on ways to correct it.
If you're a Vice President and fall into the persona of Politicking Paula, your team is suffering. Ask them, what am I doing wrong in pursuit of my career advancement? What's one thing I could work on?
Be honest with yourself. Be honest with others. Work on it. It's only bad if you go all your life without fixing it. It's a hindrance.
Be awesome,
Nate Anglin
