Remember your MBA course on managing workplace conflict? You probably weren’t offered such a course, but if you had been, you may have found it to be one of your most valuable preparatory experiences in business management.
A manager’s job is to develop and reward talent, but how will you react when some of your most talented employees cause workplace conflict? Don’t wait until tense moments arise to react. Instead, be proactive by learning to identify talented, but difficult personality types. Then pick up a few corresponding Strategies for Dealing with Difficult Personalities in the Workplace.
- Overtly Hostile
You’ve recognized this one; how could you miss her? She is a shockingly brash, vocal, unfiltered, aggressive loose cannon. You and her peers wonder how she has the audacity and fearlessness to take such risks. It’s usually a combination of impulsivity, unawareness, and lack of inhibitions that cause her reckless behavior (and specific personality disorders). Many overtly hostile types get fired because their antics outweigh their performance, but some have the talent to make managing them worthwhile from a business perspective.
- Grandiose Narcissist
According to this LinkedIn article on Dealing with Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the Workplace, 6.2% of the U.S. population suffers from narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). This means that they have five of these seven traits: grandiose sense of importance, fantasies of unlimited talent and success, belief that they are uniquely gifted, constant need for attention, sense of entitlement, exploitative, sense of being envied, arrogance, and lack of empathy. That sounds like Hannibal Lecter, but narcissists can also be highly intelligent, charming, confident, results-oriented, and competent. They excel at disguising their narcissism.
Here, we’re identifying narcissism as a personality type, but you will find plenty of overlap between the narcissist and other types on this list. We want to highlight it because studies have shown that narcissism is on the rise, especially among the younger generations.
- Passive Aggressive
Unlike the first two types, the passive aggressive appears to be a non-threatening, submissive team player. Trouble can arise when you ask him to complete a project he would rather not do, or to collaborate with someone he secretly dislikes. Instead of saying no, he may quietly seethe with resentment and sabotage or undermine your objectives, and you may never know, unless you have created a working environment in which employees feel welcome to share their perspectives on colleagues with you.
- Type A Perfectionist
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were two of the NBA’s all-time greats, but they were notorious among teammates as difficult-to-work-with perfectionists. On the one hand, their achievements put everyone else on the court to shame. On the other, they were reportedly so often dissatisfied with the performance of their teammates that they created tension. The tension a perfectionist causes in the workplace can turn to jealousy and loss of morale among peers when their talent and performance is rightfully rewarded. Managing a team with a high-performing perfectionist is like walking a tightrope.
- Underachiever
In meetings, the underachiever may wow you with intelligence. Or she may never contribute. Her measurable intelligence is impressive, but her output doesn’t match her talent level. She prefers taking maximum advantage of situations that require a low effort level to impress, and taking the easy way out when hard work and longer hours are required. You’ll come to dislike the underachiever as much as any of these toxic personality types, but they will teach you one of the most important lessons in business management: value production over talent.
Dealing effectively with talented, but difficult people is one of the most imperative, albeit underrated skills in business management. If you’ve successfully managed a team with more than one of these personality types, you may want to consider moonlighting as a professor on managing workplace conflict. The Millennials you teach may need these skills even more than we do.