In light of our not so recent class talking about politics in the workplace, I went searching for articles to elaborate on the topic. Unsurprisingly, I came across a vast array of click-bait articles, cheesy YouTube videos, and lengthy self-help articles; politics doesn't exactly live above its reputation outside of its' sciences. I digress.
The article I committed myself to reading was from The Huffington Post "The Matador Effect:How to Defeat Three Types of Bullies". The article presented itself almost as a sort of strategy guide for dealing with narcissistic and negative people in the office. While the article did suggest the useful tactic of being cool and collected in potentially heated conversations, I found most of the article to give strange, poor, advice.
The article I committed myself to reading was from The Huffington Post "The Matador Effect:How to Defeat Three Types of Bullies". The article presented itself almost as a sort of strategy guide for dealing with narcissistic and negative people in the office. While the article did suggest the useful tactic of being cool and collected in potentially heated conversations, I found most of the article to give strange, poor, advice.
As the alliterating author lamely lists off each of these "bullies" such as "Boss Betty", "Gloating Gary", and "Sycophantic* Suzy", he tells of how to "subtlety" fire back at these people. What I found most interesting was how blunt these retaliations are. Against Boss Betty, he suggests a passive aggressive apology and redirecting responsibility, so as to say "I'm sorry I thought you wanted the best, do it your way, you'll be the only one to blame." For Gloating Gary I find his strategy more likeable but no less blunt: he suggested prying for details in Gary's gloating in hopes of stopping that behavior. Although that expose might work, it also carries the risk of making enemies. As for _____phantic Suzy, he suggests a Jedi mind trick: convince her that your idea was her idea and that it will make her look better. This is probably the most realistic solution to any of these problems.
Although I don't feel as if I've learned much by reading this article, it did wonders for illustrating how varied our views can be in office politics. From my point of view, having scored a 10 on the office politics quiz, these tactics seem obvious and clumsy; but to others, the ideas might seem useful and equalizing.
*What the heck is sycophantic and why is it in a Huffington post article? Definition from Merriam Webster:
- : of, relating to, or characteristic of a sycophant : fawning, obsequious <sycophantic compliments - sychophant - a servile self-seeking flatterer
Definition of verbose
- 1 : containing more words than necessary : wordy <a verbose reply>; also : impaired by wordiness <a verbose style>
- 2 : given to wordiness <a verbose orator>
References
Dave, C. (2016). The
Matador Effect: How To Defeat Three Types Of Workplace Bullies. Retrieved
from Hufffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/craig-dave/the-matador-effect-how-to_b_7616088.html
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