How to handle enemies in your workplace

Do you have enemies in your workplace? Some of us may have enemies, not that we create enemies for ourselves. But there really are people who behave like they are the boss even if they are not the boss. Many of them have boorish behavior that they bring into the workplace.

So, how would we handle them? The first that we have to do is to simply ignore them. When we ignore them, we let them drown in their own arrogance and foolishness. This kind of behavior when ignored normally dies a natural death.  

However, there are those who are so arrogant that they would persist to annoy us even if we’ve been ignoring them. They would try to bait us to stoop to their level. What then should we do? Should we as well stoop to their sewer level behavior? Of course not! We have to take the higher plane by not stooping to their level.

Would this mean that we will simply let them annoy us and we do nothing to extinguish their errant behavior? Absolutely not! Everything has its own limit or tipping point. Sooner or later there would come a time that we have to face them so that their errant behavior could be addressed permanently.

And when we do so we have to be firm, we should not back down and we have to stand our ground no matter the odds against us. There are trouble makers in the workplace for the simple reason that we allow them to create trouble. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

On positive reputation and effective leadership

Joe is a department head in a big manufacturing company, he has been employed in that organization for ten years. He stared as an ordinary clerk and he rose from the ranks through his hard work. Along those years he built a reputation of competence, hard work and leadership by example.   Therefore, wherever department he was assigned he always gets the job done.

Is there a link between positive reputation and effective leadership? Yes, there is an important link that exist between positive reputation and effective leadership. For example, a manager who has a positive reputation of competence, hard work and leadership by example would always be an effective leader.

Why? This is for the reason that positive reputation can be likened to an advance party, it always precedes the manager/leader. Positive reputation warns the lazybones to shape up or he/she might be shipped out of the organization.

A manager’s positive reputation has a ripple effect that pervades the entire organization. Consequently, through unassailable positive reputation the manager/leader would be able to transform her/his organization.

Hence, a person who wants to ascend in the organizational hierarchy should always have a positive reputation.  For the simple reason that this is her/his passport to become an effective leader/manager. It must be like a shadow that follows him/her wherever she/he goes. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

On being talkative in the workplace

Ferdie is a talkative department manager, he talks and shares with his subordinates anything that he wants to share. Even topics of no importance he shares. What he doesn’t know is his subordinates are not interested to hear about what he shares because it distracts their work focus.  

Many managers and even ordinary workers are talkative in the workplace. They share topics that are not anymore meant to be shared and topics of no importance. For example, family matters; should it be shared in the workplace environment? Of course not!

What is to be shared or talked about in the workplace are work related topics no more no less. This simply means that there should be less talk but more work in the workplace. Many of us are talkative in the workplace. For the simple reason that we want to impress our subordinates and colleagues about what we know but it ends with the talk. We don't actually do what we say we would do, we don't put action into our words; talk is cheap.

We also want to project power, knowledge and influence by being talkative. However, the more we talk the more we expose ourselves even our hidden ignorance and incompetence we expose by being talkative.

We have to remember that the less we talk the less we commit mistakes and the less we talk the more powerful, admirable and mysterious we appear.

Are you talkative in your workplace? – Marino J. Dasmarinas