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So, what kind of personality do you bring to your job? Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever analyzed it? Does it matter? Do you care?

The workplace is a conglomeration of all kinds of personalities that are as diverse and as numerous as the people involved. Some are shy, some are forceful, some are aggressive, some are hyper-sensitive, some are meek, some are dogmatic, some are easily stressed, some are sick, some are thoughtful, some are micro-managerial, some are steadfast, some are careless, some are nit-pickers, some are dishonest, some need change management skills, some are global thinkers, and still some are belligerent. Mostly however, people are regular men and women who see value in their work and co-workers and who try their level best to work alongside their everyone in a spirit of mutual respect, understanding and determination to get the job done in a professional, timely, efficient and effective way. Irrespective of the type of your co-workers’ personalities, your experience probably has, in large part, been an ability to work in a cooperative and professional environment of teamwork and team spirit.

Recently I read about a woman who worked in a predominantly male environment where she took the words of David Allan Coe to heart and told her boss to “Take this job and shove it”. He didn’t, and he was right. This lady was apparently a very valuable and experienced player whose input was highly rated and her problem-solving skills were legendry. She was apparently a woman of vision who was of late greatly under-appreciated by a small cadre of her co-workers. When she stomped into her boss’s office and gave her ultimatum, he was unaware of the workplace bullying that had festered for quite a while. He was also unaware that this woman was working under conditions which could only be described as extreme duress, primarily because of the workplace exclusion and exclusive environment, but also because of family medical problems she was dealing with on her own.

The woman gave her ultimatum and continued on her way out the door. That should have been the end of that. It wasn’t. Several days passed and her boss arrived at her door. Through her window she noticed he was neither carrying a gun nor a bouquet of flowers. He had his briefcase firmly clutched in his hand and a serious and somewhat anxious look on his face. The woman probably pondered whether or not she should open the door. Apparently she did. The upshot of the meeting was that the woman’s ultimatum (thought to have been a resignation) was ignored and her boss implored upon her to return to her job.

Evidently the woman’s boss, after he got over the shock, did some digging into the behavior of his department staff and found some quite unsavory elements had been in existence for a considerable period of time. It took him several days to research the situation and reach the determination that the woman employee neither contributed to nor encouraged the bad blood in his department. His findings were conclusive in that she had in effect been marginalized in the deliberations, discussions, decision making and implementation of the team’s objectives. Her opinions, input and vision were frequently not even sought in many instances; and when they were sought, they were often the source of fragmented consideration and scant regard.

Fortunately for this woman, she had taken to putting her considerations and vision into written format when she was not included in team discussions. When she was included in the discussions she also had begun summarizing her input in writing to her colleagues to ensure that she continued to be a part of the process as she was aware that many caucus meetings would take place without her knowledge.

The woman’s boss found her written inputs and he came to the conclusion that she was definitely marginalized and excluded from much of the discussions by her co-workers and team members. Through her written inputs and summaries he became aware that her ideas and vision were invaluable to the team and that she was indeed an extremely important employee – one who was an asset to his company. He also found that one male co-worker, who was the main thorn in her side, was, in the overall picture, an expense to the company. This company expense would take the woman’s ideas and whilst completing reports to his management would stake out his own patch by attributing most of the woman’s input as his own. He was fired.

The woman is back as the team leader. It is an unusual step for management; but in this case a necessary and worthwhile step. Management helped the woman to become empowered and her co-workers were given extra training to help them to develop an inclusive and attentive work environment. This team now has skills, ability and vision beyond their dreams. Their productivity has increased dramatically and the team has had huge success in the new and more valuable contracts they were able to produce for the company. The quality of their work also increased and this was rewarded by the company when each team member was given a substantial bonus at the end of the year. The woman’s confidence, vision, and leadership were all appreciably responsible for the team’s turnaround. The manager now has more skills, insight and ability to do his job.

A little time set aside by each employee to self-evaluate their personality type is a good exercise for any company. The company policy should help employees with issues such as assertiveness and communication, presentation and constructive problem solving, preparation and compromise, clear boundaries and respect, non-belligerent defense of a position, alternative solutions and conflict resolution.
Managers want to avoid the words of Coe’s song, “One of these days I’m gonna blow my top and there’s gonna be hell to pay,” because visionary and browbeaten employees are an expense they can well do without. There are times when country music can give valuable insights.

Ailish M. Nic Phaidin, MPRII ©
President & CEO
Access Link International, Inc.
Public Relations & Marketing Counselors
Phone: + 321-952-2978; Email: Ailish@AccessLinkInternational.com