People behave in predictable ways. If you study your co-workers for several years, you will begin to notice patterns in their behaviors.
You will find that your co-workers are either:
1. Mostly concerned about procedures
2. Mostly concerned about people, or
3. Mostly concerned about themselves
Those mostly concerned about themselves are the type that I call regal.
These are the people who like to be the center of attention in every situation. In work settings they get attention by coming to meetings late, or by leaving early. If they have employees, they require the employees to do menial tasks to serve them, like getting coffee, or making copies, or moving the regal person’s car.
Regal people are involved in all office crises. After you have studied them for a while, you will realize that sometimes they even help to create the crises.
They explain things in a confusing way, take credit for other people’s work and are not above stretching the truth to fit their needs.
These are people who spend great amounts of time gossiping, and not much time actually working.
To get along with a regal person, you should keep good notes of what they say, disbelieve their stories and check them out, and keep them from controlling telephones, e-mails and faxes.
Most importantly, if you want to coexist with them, be nice and friendly to them. If you get on their bad side, they will begin to lie about you to others, and will make your life miserable.
If you are a person who is in charge of hiring, these are the people who give the best interviews. They are confident, they are easy to talk to and you may find yourself sharing information about yourself at the interview. They tell you that they can do all of the tasks that you need, and have done them successfully at other companies. They normally have an employment history of frequent job changes.
You can save yourself many headaches if you don’t hire regal people.
About the author: Ruth Haag ( www.RuthHaag.com )helps managers and employees understand the dynamics of the work environment, and how to function smoothly within it. She is the President/CEO of Haag Environmental Company. She has written a four-book business series: “Taming Your Inner Supervisor”, “Day-to-Day Supervising”, “Hiring and Firing”, and “Why Projects Fail.” Her enjoyable, easy-to-read books provide a look at life the way it is, rather than the way that you might think it should be.