Lunatics At Work; 8 telltale signs
We have all had work exposure to the unhinged. and often steer clear of the more visible lunatics. But none of us can do it every time, and some of the deranged don’t appear to be so at first, which makes it a challenge.
Here is my short list of eight signs you’re working with or for a lunatic.
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They lie to your face. One of the hardest things with with such people is they they make you unsure whether you are hallucinating or have forgotten what you said or did the day before. Practised at the art of the lie to keep you off balance, their body language and words seldom reveals much. They always have a comeback. Whenever you have them verbally cornered, they turn the tables and end up accusing you or the Gods of some sort of error. Also easy to tell because nothing is ever their fault–ever. Their entire focus is managing upward, and do it better than most, almost too easily. Their bosses, or board, or stakeholders almost never ever see the lunacy, as they are far too polished to show it. Trying to explain your concerns to senior stakeholders is viewed as sour grapes; surprised looks and a reply of “Not him/her”, “You really don’t know him/her very well, he/she’s outstanding.”They are not simply “politicians.” No one stays in their path for long. Watch Patty McCormack in “The Bad Seed” as a spooky example They cannot elevate or empower subordinates, only order and intimidate. Filial piety and absolute loyalty is demanded from those below them, and hence utter control. Anyone who challenges will be gone quickly, death by a thousand blows or a single one, doesn’t matter. It is a’kill or be killed’ mentality, not collaborative. In order to have such control, they always must know what others are doing, in order to hold it over them, whether informal blackmail of sorts or exploiting others weaknesses. Look out for the lunatic who always wants to hear the latest gossip. They complicate the simple. Anything that can be done in three steps takes nine. Not due to disorganisation but micromanagement and perfectionism, often-not always-the perfectionist type. They lack empathy. They will seldom ask about you or your family, and if they do, mostly it is perfunctory and anodyne. Their emotions are slender, as Dorothy Parker famously said about Kate Hepburn, “She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.” Lunatics make others nervous, not confident, often in a huge rush when a slower pace can be a better rhythm. [/list]
It’s rather easy to deduce that if one always triple checks, exploits information about others, takes triple the time to complete a project, lies with elan, uses haste and pressure rather than a steady pace, and never takes ownership of errors-only successes, then you need to either pack up and move on, or weed them out.
If the latter, do it soon, never alone, plenty of pitchforks, not spades.
Written by Neal Horwitz, President of Henry Hale Maguire
