There are some days you just can’t catch a break.
There are days when you just aren’t impressed with yourself.
There are days when you wish you could just send yourself outside to play.
You know what I’m talking about, right?
An article entitled “Dealing with Challenging Personalities” looked pretty interesting to me and I decided to read it. It’s in the May Toastmasters magazine.
It started out, “We all know them: the club members who irritate, agitate, and aggravate others. Maybe it’s their strong personality or annoying behavior…. They are maddening!” And then the article proceeded to talking about the personalities and how to work with them.
- They named seven type of maddening members.
- The Over – Talker. This person “talks endlessly, barely stopping to breathe in conversation, unaware that their listener has zoned out and lost interest. They can come across as opinionated, disrespectful, and extremely self – absorbed.
- The Recruiter. He uses every opportunity for “a personal networking or proselytizing event to market their own business or evangelize their own faith. Every conversation and comment is sprinkled with a thinly veiled attempt to gain more clients or converts.
- “The Googler is the know it all, the self – proclaimed (and often prideful) keeper of all knowledge. They may know a lot of people. They may be name droppers. They many have memorized every aspect of Robert’s Rules of Order. They protest incorrect procedures, or pontificate about ‘why we must do this.’ They can come across as pretentious and inflexible.”
- The High Conflict person is toxic. They “exhibit behavior consistent with narcissism and histrionic, borderline and antisocial personality disorders. They argue, debate, even intimidate. They often initiate, escalate, and perpetuate conflict, usually with themselves at the center. They blame others and will not take responsibility for their part in a conflict. They think people are either with them or against them, or 100 percent good or 100 percent bad. If anyone is against them, they’re forever against them. They can be explosive and unpredictable, and will try to gather allies in their conflicts, often creating division in a group.
- “The Latecomer is consistently late. When on the agenda, their tardiness causes last minute role shuffling. Even if they are not on the agenda, their arrival is disruptive and distracting.
- “The Gossiper delights in passing along juicy information about someone else. The information may be true, but it’s rarely flattering. Gossips speculate, criticize, and divide.
- “The Eccentric is unusual, quirky, or peculiar. They just seem out of step with conventional standards. Maybe they dress differently, have an unusual habit, or are hyperfocused on a specific topic. Other may think they are mentally deficient, but they are not. In Eccentrics: A Study of Sanity and Strangeness, psychiatrist David Weeks writes how eccentrics are often physically healthier and significantly happier than ‘normal’ people. He says they typically exhibit five similar characteristics: they are nonconformist, creative, intensely curious, idealistic, and unconcerned with how they contrast with conventional culture. Their presence can be unsettling to some.”
I don’t know about you, but I saw myself in about half of those people. I thought maybe I should read the part on how to deal with them, but then I changed my mind. I think I’m stuck with myself. If I haven’t learned in 58 years how to deal with myself, it doesn’t seem likely.
Lots happening this summer. What are you looking forward to?
I’ll see you on the bricks!