James Caan recently shared 5 habits that could get you fired. I thought they were worth sharing with the Healthcare IT community:
- Lack of manners
- Over-promising and under-delivering
- Lack of poker face
- Anti-social behaviour
- Being a glass half empty kind of person
I’m not sure I agree with all of the points. For example, I don’t think you necessarily have to have a poker face. In fact, I know some really extremely successful people that have no poker face. These people are considered authentic. They certainly rock the boat on occasion, but I much prefer working with someone who doesn’t have a poker face to someone who you can never trust since you don’t know what they’re really thinking.
My favorite one is the last two. I think there’s something to say about being optimistic. People love to work with optimistic people. I did hear about a recent study that said that anti-social people get more work done than social people. This makes logical sense. The social people spend more time chatting and less time working. However the study also suggested that it might not be the best plan to have a team of all anti-social people. The social people provide value by raising the happiness of the workplace. So, each of them play a role.
What would you put on your list of things that could get you raises?
Agree with you John. Most workplaces have a variety of personality types and I think that is the best for any company. Since I’m in sales, my job makes me quite social, but it also makes me sensitive to the signs coming from co-workers that say “leave me alone right now.”
One of the worst things an employee can do is to try and force themselves on their colleagues. That creates anxiety. Have you ever worked with someone who violates your personal space? Ugh.
Another thing that tops my list of least favorite behaviors: gossip. A no-no in any environment.
I’ll have to remember the personal space comment Helen. Too bad you don’t like gossip. I was going to tell you some great stories about Lisa 😉
I think the key to all of this is respect and open communication. If both people respect each other and openly communicate their feelings with that respect, then it works out well.