Pictured from left to right, Terri Jacke, MS, Deb Franckowiak, PhD, Mandy Nycz, MA |
There comes a time - usually early in our careers - when we discover that people in the workplace can be jerks. All at once, it seems, we realize “that some people are mean, self-serving, scheming, or manipulative, while others are willing to sacrifice your well-being for their own benefit, and still others are noticeably incompetent, thereby making your ability to get things done unnecessarily difficult” (p. xv, Is This a Lousy Job or Is It Me?).
Unfortunately, these unpleasant people can cast a shadow over our workplace experiences causing our mood to darken and our job satisfaction to suffer. Worse yet, our reaction to such individuals can compromise our ability to contribute, collaborate, or negotiate conflict effectively.
- Be observant and pay attention to their patterns of behavior. Often their words and their actions contradict one another. Instead of growing frustrated, simply choose to be informed by their actions not their words.
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Contemplate your possible contribution to their behaviors. “Are there unwritten and unspoken interpersonal “rules” at play? What kind of social “agreements” exist within your workplace that no one speaks about and, perhaps, no one realizes?” (p. 57). Could you modify your behavior to adjust to the interpersonal rules or social agreements within your workplace?
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Do not assume responsibility for fixing or healing jerks.
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Leadership note: If you are in a leadership position with jerks reporting to you, remember that you are responsible to those individuals not for those individuals. Your responsibility is to offer honest and timely performance feedback, establish clear expectations, provide adequate workplace resources, and seek feedback from them. You are not responsible for saving them from themselves; they are responsible for that.
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Maintain a healthy perspective. Remember that “there will likely be weird, dishonest, and mean people everywhere, but they are not everyone” (p. 58).
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Do not join the dark side. “The behavior of jerks may actually be appealing: disregard for others, irresponsibility, immaturity, and so forth. Resist the temptation to follow their lead” (p. 58), and commit to leading by example.
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Featured Interview
In this interview with BoldTV, a millennial platform where corporate jargon is off-limits, Terri Jacke shares how to turn a sucky job around and when to quit to find something new.
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