HOW TO PLAY NICELY IN THE SANDBOX
Your entire life you work toward learning many different things. You aim to become an expert in a particular field and hopefully are successful. But no one ever tells you that skills are only half of the recipe. To really succeed, you need to be a master of human nature.
Bottom line, if you can’t learn how to work with all different types of people, it really doesn’t matter how GOOD you are at what you do.
Working in Fashion, you come in contact with many different types of people. With each ego, I mean personality, you have to learn to navigate the waters, sometimes filled with sharks and jelly fish.
It’s imperative to know the players and how to engage with them, but it’s also essential to know who you are. Below, I have outlined the worst ‘work personalities’ using childhood characters. Fitting no?
1. MAGGIE SIMPSON: The quintessential baby. The person who is constantly complaining, helpless and oversensitive.
2. HE-MAN: The super-aggressive person who rules by bullying.
3. SHIRA PRINCESS OF POWER: There’s only “I” in this person’s alphabet.
4. BATMAN: The person who changes ‘who’ he is depending on ‘who’ he is with.
5. THE JOKER: The giant-mouthed person who thinks yelling is an acceptable form of communication.
6. MR. POTATO HEAD: Giant head. Giant ego. There’s only one opinion that matters and you can guess whose that is.
7. MALIBU BARBIE: The person who thinks work is what other people do.
8. KEN: The person who gets by simply because of good looks.
9. THE PEEP: The all “fluff” person who has a big title and doesn’t actually do ANYTHING.
10. SWIPER THE FOX: The person who steals other people’s ideas and serves them up as his own.
11. CRUELLA DE VILLE: The person whose primary goal is to start and spread gossip about co-workers in order to advance.
12. OSCAR THE GROUCH: The perma-negative person who thinks the world (or at least the company) is coming to an end daily.
13. SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS: The person who is so clueless it’s a wonder he knows how to get dressed in the morning.
If you recognize any of the above in yourself, do not pass go, do not collect $200 and go straight to personality rehab.
