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OVERWORKED AND UNAPPRECIATED

Their patient loads are higher, their workload is more demanding, and their attitudes are highly contagious.  Whiners destroy the atmosphere around them.  They find trouble on good days...and on rough days, their complaint level soars and they accomplish little.  What can you do when a coworker is full of conversational lists of why their lot in life is worse than yours?  Agree with them.  Gosh, you do have a lot to do.  Sorry to hear that, there are times when life is challenging.  Whiners are looking for compassion, but the compassion they need must come from within.  Whining is passive behavior.  These whining individuals need to assertively ask for assistance...or learn to say no.  Since those actions are more challenging to them, they resort to complaining and hope that you and I will rescue them.  I'm not suggesting that all of us don't proceed through moments of time in which it seems that whatever can go wrong will go wrong and does go wrong.  In those minutes, we do need extra assistance from those around us.  The whiners I'm discussing are those who never, ever have a moment to see that life is good.   

CONFLICT AND COLLABORATION

I trust the dust has settled from the annual who-is-going-to-work-Thanksgiving Day debates.  If supervisors and executives joined the workforce on holidays, I suspect there would be a lot less grousing and a lot more pride among employees as they realized the organization was dedicated to excellence every day...not just when it was convenient. 

While the debates were taking place, perhaps you were asked to work a holiday for someone in exchange for that person working a later holiday for you.  Hope that works out as planned, but there are some difficult coworkers who believe a spirit of cooperation is fine for you, not fine for them.  How can you protect yourself from these folks?  It's practically impossible the first time.  Until we have a track record, we must trust one another.  But if someone demonstrates a lack of integrity by failing to keep their word, we can protect ourselves by refusing to enter future trading shifts negotiations with that person.  Lack of accountability to one's teammates is an issue that should be addressed by leadership. The bad feelings created around the holiday work issue can destroy team spirit.   

PERFECTIONISM CONQUERED

No one is perfect so setting a goal of perfection is the same as setting no goal.  To the behavioral observer, perfectionists and slackers look the same.  Instead of expecting yourself to deliver the impossible, aim for good.  Get started.  If time allows, revise and improve your work.  Then reward yourself for your labor.      

PROCRASTINATORS

Delay, stall, avoid are key strategies used by procrastinators.  These difficult colleagues specialize in bringing chaos to their co-workers.  When procrastinators fail to deliver, the rest of us are held in suspended animation, unable to accomplish our goals.  Procrastinators are usually perfectionists.  They don't begin projects because their need for stellar performance is overwhelming.  So, they wait until the last minute, drive themselves to the edge of breakdown and deliver work that seldom pleases them.  When it's time to begin the next project, they remember the last performance and delay again, hoping to find the time and energy to achieve perfection.  When we work with procrastinators, we can help ourselves by asking the procrastinators to set a deadline before the work begins.  If we give them a deadline, they'll say we are controlling. The success strategy is to allow the procrastinator to set the deadline.  If you are a procrastinator, check out my next posting.  You'll find ideas for conquering the perfectionistic demon.    

AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITIES

Manage aggressive personalities with TLC....tenacious, lucid communication.  Tenacious because once you've identified an assertive response, don't give up.  Lucid because you'll need to define exactly what you expect from the aggressive personality.  Communication because direct conversations with the individual(s) involved is the only way to achieve peace.  Speak your mind without using disrespectful communication.  It is oh so tempting to give back exactly as we've received, but that's not skill...that's reacting.  Approach all conversations with the goal of giving to others what you would like to receive, honest, fair communication free of accusations and labels. 

AGGRESSIVE COWORKERS

They can start a stampede simply by the sound of their footsteps.  They ruin meetings and can destroy careers.  Those aggressive coworkers are going to have their way regardless of the damage they inflict.  How can we thrive while working with them?

Consider them a blessing.  Your opportunity to master assertiveness skills.  Begin by considering two questions.  Do you own your equality?  Have you accepted your worth as equal to that of all other human beings?  If not, please understand aggressive personalities can spot insecurity as quickly as a toddler can throw food on the floor.  Aggressive personalities use insecurity to their advantage.  Assertive individuals live comfortably with their strengths so their words and attitudes broadcast personal security.  That assertive manner sends aggressive personalities off to scour the area for a more vulnerable target.