When it comes to your workspace, no one can deny the fact that we spend more time at work than at our home. Unfortunately, we often come across people who make this time a nightmare for all of us. We call these folks toxic. Dale Carnegie alarmed us about them when he said, “When dealing with people, be cautioned; remember that you are not dealing with creatures of logic but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.”
Here are seven types of toxic personalities that you should always steer clear of at workplace if you aspire to succeed.
1. The Bully
Have you ever been bullied in high school or college? If yes, then even entering professional life might not put an end to your ordeal. You will always find people who resort to bullying others just to achieve their desired outcome.
Be it humiliating someone or using abusive language, such toxic people can strike fear in the minds of not only employee, but also sow discord within their own team. This leads to an unhealthy work environment, where employees fail to come up to their true potential. If you are at the receiving end of such behavior at work, you should report it to higher authorities and get out of harm’s way as quickly as possible.
2. The Critic
Every coin has two sides, and criticism is no different. Constructive criticism is a good thing as it helps you improve and overcome your weaknesses. On the contrary, negative criticism rains over your self-confidence and self-esteem, and proves to be a motivation killer. Unfortunately, the critic at work uses this frequently to demoralize you. Frank A Clark gave the perfect formula when he said, “Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”
3. Control Freak
Control freak or the micromanager is someone who is always peeking over your shoulder, curious to know what you are up to. No one likes to be stalked by their boss or manager. These control freaks pinch you even more by keeping an eye on everything that you do. As if that was not enough, they add the cherry on top of the cake by showing an unwillingness to bend.
Their unflinching obsession with details and manipulative tactics can leave employees with no choice. The easiest way to deal with such people is to over-communicate so that all the others in your team are also aware of the project status. Thanks to the level of transparency afforded by digital tools such as free task management systems, the risk of employee abuse by micromanagers is considerably diminished.
4. The Loser
“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking what’s in it for me.”—Brian Tracy
This quote by Brian Tracy can help you differentiate between a loser and a successful individual. A loser always looks at the negative side of things and tries to portray an adverse picture all the time, even if they have to dent your reputation for it. Surround yourself with people who push you to go the extra mile and bring the best out of you. Do not let such losers hold you back in your quest to achieve your goals. Even if you fail, consider failure as an opportunity to learn and improve instead of being bogged down by it.
5. Tantrum Thrower
No matter where you work, there are always a few employees who fall in this category. The problem with such drama queens is that they are unable to control their emotions, and as a result, they usually throw tantrums around the workplace. Let their outburst run its course and then state the facts.
Maintain a rational and a calm tone even if you feel otherwise, and the tantrum thrower will soon agree to your point. If the tantrum thrower is regularly relenting to abusive language, it’s high time to report it to higher authorities.
6. The Gossiper
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”—William Penn
Time is money, as the age old adage says, but we often tend to splurge money on useless items when we indulge in idle gossips with gossiper. Before you realize it, hours go by. Now, you are up against an uphill challenge of completing multiple tasks in the remaining hours.
This could lead to increased stress, anxiety and employee burnout than what you are actually facing. Additionally, it can also increase the probability of making errors. Adding insult to the injury is the fact that all this talk has no real value or nothing to do with work. In fact, it is a source of creating conflicts at workplaces, as mostly these gossips are related to a particular employee.
7. Chronic Liar
According to Robert Feldman, professor of psychological and brain sciences at University of Massachusetts, “Lying is a part and parcel of everyday life.” If you want to see a real life example, look at any chronic liar at your office. They do not hesitate to tell a lie just to make you work harder and get the result they want. Even though, we all lie at one time or the other but there is a massive difference between occasional lying and making it a habit. This is the reason why you will never find a successful people around a chronic liar because they hang out near honest people. Never trust a chronic liar and verify any information they might have divulged from other employees.
Conclusion
Be it is a tantrum thrower, a critic, a bully or a control freak, they can serious make your workspace a pain in the neck, especially if you let them do it. If you want to maintain a conclusive working environment at your office, you should know how to deal with these toxic personality types at work. Failure to do so will leave you vulnerable to their manipulative tactics.
Which types of toxic personalities have you had to deal with at work? How did you cope with them? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.
