older players in my first real job as a
consultant. Grumpiness, in that case, was
a defense mechanism. They were rejecting
being told what to do by someone whom
they perceived to be a-nobody who knew
nothing about his business.
Grumpy players are rarely high flyers and
unless you’re already a highly skilled social
master, associating with them might drag
you down. As Robert Greene says in his
book - the 48 Laws of Power: avoid the
unhappy and unlucky. And may I add, the
grumpy players.
Here is the rule of thumb for you if
you are dealing with grumpy players:
Befriending losers as a powerful man is an
act of magnanimity. Befriending losers as
a powerless man is a case of “misery loves
company”.
Sticklers for the Rule
Sticklers for the Rules stake their claim to
power with laws, regulations, and Standard
of Procedures. Sticklers for the rule have
lowish social skills and low emotional intel-
ligence. However, they can be very assertive
and they even look confident and in control.
The confidence is mostly a front though and
they rarely are individuals of strong charac-
ter. And that is why they hide behind rules.
improving the organization. They would
be happy to go down in flames. As long as
they do it following SOPs.
Unless there are really good reasons to
adhere to the rule, they are most often
power tripping. And of course, a wonderful
power move on Sticklers is to actually get
authority over them.
Sticklers for the Rules stake their claim
to power with laws, regulations, and
Standard of Procedures. Sticklers for the
rule have lowish social skills and low
emotional intelligence. However, they
can be very assertive and they even look
confident and in control. The confidence is
mostly a front though and they rarely are
individuals of strong character. And that is
why they hide behind rules. The Overachievers
Aggressing others or defending your
position becomes indeed much easier
when you can claim the law on your
side. Their office power strategy is that
they are after office social status. When
they become the “go to guys” to check
procedures and when they become known
as “the rules guy”, they become someone. Overachievers are partly inborn and partly
nurtured. Nurtured overachievers who
grew up in families with high expectations,
for example with narcissistic parents, are
more likely to feel the pressure of having
to perform and they’re more likely to be
stressed out. Inborn overachievers do
it for themselves. Some of them “enjoy
their own drive” and do not get nearly as
stressed out.
If you have official authority over them,
they will comply. If not, they will relish
sending you packing. The power of
sticklers for the rule is limited though.
They move up a little, but there is a (well
deserved) glass ceiling for them. The
movers and shakers make things happen.
The sticklers for the rules instead are not
focused on making things happen and
80 MAL33/19 ISSUE
These
ones
have
the
following
characteristics: Speak too much at the
meeting, seek responsibility and power
positions in all fields, and unashamedly
take all credit even though it’s been a team
effort. When there is some credit to loot,
the overachievers take no prisoners.
There are several types of overachievers
according to Dr. Jekylls; they can be nice
on their own or when nothing is at stake,
but turn into monsters in the presence of
bosses, upper management or opportunities
to “shine”; 24/7 overachievers who it are
“always on” with them, they never stop
pursuing power opportunities. You cannot
be friends with them and they are often
lonely and the socially skilled, who are
the most dangerous because they put on
a facade of fairness, caring and it takes
really emotionally intelligent people to
sniff them out early. And just for you to
know, most CEOs are overachievers.
It is relatively easy to isolate and maneuver
the socially unskilled overachievers.
Everyone can see and feel the ugly side
of their ambitions so your job is just to
throw the match on the tinder and watch
them burn. The problem starts when
overachievers grow skilled enough that
they can mask their real selfish intentions
with a layer of sociability or pro-sociability.
It might also be the case that you will be
one of the few to know or see the ‘real’
them.
If that is the case, you must make sure
you are also not the only one fighting
them! And never, ever tell them they
are horrible persons before you’re well
equipped to start (and win) the war:
Never openly communicate your distaste
for overachievers and never show that you
know what they are up to.
Only attack them when you are strong
enough to destroy them. And do not
ever think you can “help” an overachiever
by telling him about his overachieving
ways. Yes, they might feel disgusted by
themselves, but they will blame you for
it. And their next achievement will be
getting rid of you.