Protect You from Others or Others from You?

I think that everyone who works with other human beings has a specific skill-set that needs to be developed in order to be successful and not make themselves or anyone else miserable. The fact is that everyone is so different. Different personalities like and dislike certain things and without a personality test at your exposure, it is your guess what those likes and dislikes are. Frankly, people are confusing and it is to our benefit to learn how to navigate the workplace gauntlet of personalities. I will briefly describe two skills that you will be glad you have in the workplace. There are some people that you may work with that are just very blunt. They will tell you exactly what they think about you, your work, or anything else that you or anyone else does. This type of person may also have a delusional viewpoint. People that are like this seem to be either right on with their opinion and it is a great self-introspective moment for you that helps you develop your career, or they are just being mean and are just telling you things that are just not true. Sometimes, those who are just “mean” can be rather convincing and it can confuse you even more. So, the first skill that needs to be developed is to learn when to protect you from others. On the other hand, you may be a problem for someone else. You may need to protect others from you. Have you ever worked with someone that just felt like you were someone that they could share just anything with? They are the kind of people that obviously see you as a “safe place” and they will drain you of every bit of positive energy that you had that day because they had to share with you all of the bad things that are happening to them. If this is you, you may need to protect others from you. In another scenario, you could be the person that is so direct in your opinion of others that it hurts them rather than helping them. It is so very easy to criticize someone. I am sure all of us have experienced this at one time or another. Criticizing can become contagious to some. It makes them feel so much better about themselves. But it can also completely drain that individual and the overall workplace of anything positive. Things may seem to be happy for you or the small group that starts the criticism, but in the long run, everyone loses. Don’t be this person. In the end, the overall experience is bound to turn up bad and what will the references from that last place of employment say? Learning how to deal with people is difficult and rewarding all at the same time. We all love people and at some point, they just drive us crazy. If you are receiving criticism, it is essential to know when the criticism has some truth and when it is not. Knowing this is very important. At the same time, being introspective is a trait that almost any great leader has. It is a trait that is developed, honed and utilized through tough decisions. Learn these two traits. You will be glad you did.