Sitting at work is an extremely unpleasant thing. Especially if they are trying to hook you up. In general, what is hooking? This is an attempt to take someone else’s position, and is by no means honestly applying for it and openly declaring one’s intentions. The applicant uses dishonest methods of struggle: he tries to discredit a colleague or boss in the eyes of other employees or senior management. How to deal with an ill-wisher?

What are the reasons for slacking at work?

There may be several reasons why they may want to “move” you from your position. Most often, the main motive is envy. Some of your colleagues may think that your salary is much higher than their own or that your working conditions are much more favorable. For example, envious people may think that your work requires less physical, intellectual or emotional effort.

Another common reason is simply jealousy of your position. Someone may simply feel offended because, for example, you were appointed head of the department and not him. Hooking is a very common and almost universal process. It is typical for any organizations in which there is a hierarchical system: in government agencies, large and small commercial companies, educational institutions, cultural institutions, etc.

At the same time, stalking can be completely purposeful, when a person consciously sets his sights on your position and tries by all means to achieve his goal, and also unconsciously, when a person is able to natural features character simply needs to constantly compete with someone. The second scenario, by the way, is even more likely, because much more often people begin to be active at work simply because of the need to somehow assert themselves and relieve boredom, and not because of a desire to harm one of their colleagues.

By the way, ladies hook each other up much more often. Men most often openly declare their claims to a particular position. But women like to weave a web of intrigue and masterfully stage entire performances. So it is much more difficult to expose them. But it is still possible. So how can you tell if you're being scammed?

The main signs of hooking

1. For no apparent reason, your colleagues have become less talkative. And if they enter into dialogue with you, they speak very carefully and dryly. This may indicate that someone is setting the team against you.

2. One of your colleagues very often began to “quite by accident” mention your mistakes to his superiors. At the same time, he doesn’t tell you anything about it personally. His memory “sharpens” only during meetings or planning meetings with the director.

3. There are more and more cases when important information about work is constantly “forgot” to be conveyed to you. But one of my colleagues shows amazing awareness.

4. The boss, in some mysterious way, constantly finds himself aware of things that he should not know and which were known only to the employees of your department.

5. Often, important documents begin to disappear from your desk, and necessary files are always erased from your work computer. If such cases suddenly start happening to you all the time, it may not be a problem with memory or attention. There is a chance that someone just wants to make you look absent-minded, irresponsible and lazy in front of your superiors.

6. Another very clear sign is the obvious fawning of one of the employees. He literally “looks into the mouth” of his boss, agrees with all his ideas and constantly tries to serve him.

7. And finally, you should be wary if there is an ambitious employee in your department with similar qualifications to you who has not received a promotion for a long time.

What to do?

First of all, don't panic. After all, trying to hustle at work does not mean that you will certainly be fired. If you get nervous and start making mistakes, it will only benefit your opponent. So continue to work calmly and collectedly.

However, try to analyze your shortcomings and mistakes and try to correct them. The fewer weak points you have, the more likely it is that a colleague who wants to help you will fail. If you are convinced that you are really being scammed, start taking action. However, in fighting an opponent with his own means, that is, with the help of intrigue, gossip and small dirty tricks may be dangerous. You may end up losing and ruining your reputation.

Therefore, before rushing into battle, you should probe the ground.

1. First of all, think: is it really worth spending your energy fighting for a place in this company? Do you have any prospects here? career growth? Perhaps there are more interesting and worthwhile proposals?

2. Find out what motivates the colleague who decided to sit on you: simply dislike for you and the desire to spoil your nerves, or the intention to get you fired at any cost.

3. Find out how your boss treats you. If there are no complaints against you as an employee, and in purely human terms you are satisfactory to the director, then it will be quite difficult for your opponent to shake your position. If the relationship with the manager is not so cloudless, all the slander against you will find a lively response.

4. What is the reason that I’m not picking on someone else, but you? There may be two options here. Option one: you are an excellent specialist who copes well with your job responsibilities, and your successes will not allow the envious person to move up the career ladder. Option two: you relaxed and started working half-heartedly, and your colleague did not fail to take advantage of this.

What definitely won't help you?

Some methods of dealing with an ill-wisher may not only not alleviate the situation, but will only force you to dig a deeper hole for yourself. So, what should you never do?

Snitching. Even if your competitor acts ugly and unfair towards you, don’t even think about complaining to your boss. Firstly, all your fuss may be completely indifferent to him. Secondly, you will gain a reputation as an informer. And finally, the inability to solve problems on your own will make you look like a weakling, and a logical question will arise: do you really occupy your position by right?

Merciless revenge. It’s also not worth fighting with the same means as your opponent. Firstly, if your conflict reaches management, they will not be able to figure out who is the persecutor and who is the victim. With the right skill, your ill-wisher can present himself as the lamb of God, and you as the aggressor. In addition, if you also stoop to meanness, you will essentially give your opponent carte blanche for further antics.

Undertake too much. Some people try to get rid of their stalker by proving their professionalism. They take on the most difficult tasks and almost impossible plans. This method is dangerous because sooner or later the enormous amount of work will break you. Or, if you try to jump over your head, you will fail to the delight of your competitor.

Active actions

Technique 1. Initiative worker. If a colleague who is poisoning your life has already turned almost everyone against you, you should not waste your energy on sorting things out with them or trying to restore your reputation. Come up with a few constructive ideas and rational proposals and go to the “most important” boss. As soon as you get to the audience, start a conversation about the fact that you have been sitting too long, and, meanwhile, you have a whole sea of ​​​​creative ideas and plans. Showcase yourself with the best side, show what a qualified specialist and enthusiast you are. Bosses love this, especially if you, being an altruist, do not demand a salary increase for your ideas and suggestions.

Technique 2. I see nothing - I hear nothing.
Do not react in any way to sabotage that your opponent is organizing. If the enemy sees that his antics do not bother you at all and do not take you out of peace of mind, he will most likely leave you alone soon. The main thing for you now is to concentrate on your work and show consistently high performance. At the same time, it is especially worth emphasizing your successes in front of your boss. This neutralizes the pressure of your opponent, who will probably report to your manager about the mistakes you have made.

If you are absolutely sure that you are being reported, it’s time to stop these attempts:

Technique 3. Add yours to the board. If you are a cheerful person who easily connects with people, try to become the life of the party, a kind of social entertainer who tirelessly cares about the common good. It will be extremely difficult to eliminate the darling of the entire department.

If you can’t “own the audience”, Try to establish warm, trusting relationships with each colleague individually.

Technique 4. Top Secret. A competitor will be able to trip you up only if he perfectly understands what your responsibilities are and knows what you are working on at one time or another. Therefore, try to devote as little as possible to other employees in the details of your activities, do not chat about your plans and be sure to set passwords on your work computer and all important files. Do not leave open windows browser or Internet messengers. Who knows how unprincipled your ill-wisher will be...

Technique 5. Castling. If you no longer have the strength to fight your opponent, but you don’t want to quit, try changing your field of activity, moving to another department or to another project. This will allow you to move away from your pursuer to a safe distance, or even completely deprive him of the opportunity to influence you.

Well, and finally, some more tips on how to resist office intrigue:

It is possible and necessary to combat being stuck at work. However, in this fight the main thing is not to sink to the level of your opponent and not to lose your dignity.

06/22/2016 at 17:52

In the article you will learn:

Psychology at work and team relationships

Greetings, my beloved readers! Today we will talk about such an insidious topic as psychology of relationships in a team at work. Why insidious? Everyone has at least once encountered pressure from colleagues, banal gossip behind our backs, even outright deceptions in front of our superiors, calling into question our professional qualities. Well, it happened, didn’t it? How to avoid these troubles, improve damaged relationships with your team, and even turn them to your advantage, I will now tell you in detail about this.

Childhood, childhood, where have you gone...

Remember yourself in kindergarten, at school, at college? Here in the work environment the same processes are observed, but more conscious and a little more complicated. It was not in vain that I turned to your experience. The concept of a collective is inseparable from the individual and social relations. Children's games, communication between boys and girls in the classroom and institute were the future model of your work. The human qualities and skills that you acquired as you grew up are not baggage, but equipment with which you arrange a place in a multidimensional social web of relationships. Unfortunately, in a team it is not always as easy as it seems. Now everything is more mature.

People come to work with different characters, temperaments, levels of self-esteem, motivation: grumblers, envious people, advisers, gossipers, teachers and others; a beginner needs to be able to blend into this bouquet.

If you have been working for your boss for several days now, and you want to urgently change something in your relationships with your colleagues, let’s figure out what role is assigned to you and your colleagues in this mess, choose a strategy of behavior, this is the only way you will move established relationships off the ground. But first things first!

First day: fatal success!

Before I get to practical recommendations, imagine that a new employee comes to your office. What are your reactions? Certainly different. Interest, wariness, curiosity, distrust, indifference, but absolutely everyone will identify a newcomer as a “friend or foe”, this happens unconsciously and naturally, watch yourself. How to behave in order to pass this test? It is important to put yourself at ease on the very first day of work, and the motto of the week will be: “Accuracy in everything!” Starting from appearance, ending with statements, actions and expressed emotions.

We are so different and yet we are together

In fact, conflicts among staff are quite common, the roles are known, as they say, “everyone is the same in the arena.” Let's consider the causes of problems, based on possible types of relationships:

1. "Evil" or "grumpy". There are such ladies in any organization, unfriendly, dissatisfied, easily irritated. Your reaction is a source of new irritation. Therefore, your main weapon is calm and methodical, stay neutral
2. Envious Employees are more likely than others to start gossip, allow cheerfully cynical discussions behind your back of your next blouse or love stories, even to the point of devaluing your professional duties, emphasizing any oversight or mistake. The reasons are clear: a mixture of envy, boredom and even jealousy. Do not allow reasons for gossip, flaunt your achievements and successes less often, spare their feelings. And God forbid you flirt with a male colleague at work, especially if he is the only man in the team!
3. Rigid employees are conservatives to the core. Unable to change work style or point of view. It’s useless to argue or give reasons to them, don’t try, communicate with instructions, stick to general rules.
4. Advisors– this type of people really likes to teach, give recommendations on how and what you should do better. There is no harm from them, but importunity can cause at least a yawn, and at most a quarrel. In this case, take the initiative yourself, ask for help, you will emphasize the importance of this employee, support his self-esteem and thereby reduce the need to “be needed.”
5. Yours pedantic Your colleagues can find fault on any occasion, looking for minor inaccuracies, but if the work process allows, you can divide responsibilities, giving them the most tedious and routine work that requires attention to detail.
6. "Artists". Surely you have met people of the demonstrative type. Very energetic, emotional, they come to work for attention. Therefore, you may be drawn into a scandal just to be at the center of events. Give the artist attention and compliments, and in return you will receive a good ally.

These are not the only types, there are many of them. What if your colleagues seem to be good, but the relationship still doesn’t work out and irritations and clashes flare up from time to time? This is where you have to pay attention on your loved ones and think about whether we ourselves are the cause and source of our own problems? And in this case, changing the team will not help the matter; you will find yourself in the same situations over and over again. Let's talk straight.

What can provoke colleagues into conflicts?

1. Unsociability, sullenness, reluctance to respond to requests. This does not mean that you should be allowed to sit on your neck. But be kind and help out your colleagues when they really need it.
2. Complaints to superiors about colleagues. Better decide controversial situations among themselves, finding compromises.
3. If you have Bad mood, your boss yelled at you, things weren’t going well, don't take it out on your colleagues! There are many ways to deal with stress: hobbies, auto-training, meditative techniques, favorite music and much more.
4. Don't assume that your opinion is the most important. Straightforwardness is often confused with banal bad manners. Hold back, speak only when it is really important.
5. Friendship at work. You may not notice how this will interfere with your work process and your colleagues. Frequent smoking breaks, long lunches, and endless conversations will not please your boss either.
6. Fear of overworking, if it’s a shared task, especially if it’s an emergency.
7. Don't take something from your colleagues' desk without asking.
8. Constant comparison with your own former job, especially not in favor of the current one.
9. Unsuccessful, inappropriate and unnecessary curious questions. For example, what salary is paid to whom, who is in what relationship, etc.
10. Loud conversations on personal topics, loud phone music, strong smell of perfume, conversation with colleagues in a raised voice. Agree that these moments can infuriate both you and those around you.

One of my friends complained that she was forced to look for other vacancies. As it turned out, an entire department organized persecution against her. In relationship psychology this phenomenon is called mobbing when everything is for one. The reason for the mobbing was workaholism of my friend, which was perceived by the department as a desire to please the boss and stand out from the rest. We managed to solve the problem by identifying the main instigator of the bullying and discussing the situation with him directly. If, on the contrary, you are too lazy to do something, then read about how to deal with laziness.

Relationships in a men's team: let's set priorities

The rules of conduct in a men's team deserve special discussion. Men are also different and in such groups it’s not easy, most often it’s a struggle for survival!

So, whatever one may say, there is only one recipe: respect each other, adhere to standards of behavior, give a firm rebuff to aggressors and strive to improve relationships, because, by and large, we are all the same and we all want to come to the best job in the best team. If you are still searching better work, then pay attention to the course about 78 profitable internet professions . We all know that virtual work will soon take a huge place in people's lives. So there you are with the computer in good relations And looking for a more interesting job, then the possibility work at home might be just the thing for you.

Ideally, smooth and friendly relations should be maintained with all employees in the team. However, this is not always possible. People are different, some of them treat you well, while others may be mean to you. If you were set up at work, it is insulting and extremely unpleasant, but first of all you need to minimize the consequences.

If you were set up at work, what should you do?

You were framed - conversation with the boss

The boss calls you into his office and demonstratively puts in front of you a report with errors or a summary of real data that is noticeably different from what you have, and you understand that you don’t know where these papers came from; yesterday they looked the same -to another. It doesn’t matter whether you suspected that your cunning colleagues were going to play a trick on you, or whether it really came as a surprise to you, be surprised. Throw up your hands and say that all this is a misunderstanding, the correct report is saved on your computer, and the accountant submitted other information yesterday - here is the paper, stamp and signature. Don't shout about being set up and don't point fingers at your colleagues. A smart leader will come to this conclusion himself. If he asks about your ill-wishers, you can delicately put forward an assumption (in which you yourself will be confident) about who could have done this.

Do not give the names of people whom you suspect of setting you up if you are not sure about it. If you make a mistake, you will be ashamed

The job will not go to Fedot

It is not your fault that you were set up, but if you did not grab the ill-wisher’s hand, you will still have to correct the mistakes. Try to do this as quickly as possible, without moaning about cunning colleagues or complaining to clients and bosses. The people involved in this story will appreciate both your professionalism and personal qualities.

How to deal with the person who set you up

You may know who set you up, but it is not a fact that the boss will decide to fire this person. It is likely that you will continue to work with him in the same company and even in the same office. Despite all your anger and resentment, do not start quarrels. It’s best not to pay any attention to the colleague who has been annoying you - don’t help him, don’t communicate with him, don’t offer to look at the new report form, let someone else do it, don’t share sugar with him.

Mobbing, bullying, bossing... These mysterious words mean just different options for bullying an employee they don’t like at work, organized by one or several people. Do you think this is not a threat to you? You are wrong. Any of us can become a potential victim, and the number of victims of office terror runs into the millions all over the world.

Conspiracy against the victim

Alla knows firsthand what it’s like when a team rejects you and doesn’t let you into their friendly ranks. She once worked in a company where the main contingent of workers were ladies much older than her. But instead of maternal care, the girl was faced with ignorance and open hostility from her colleagues. And although she liked the work and her bosses had no complaints against her, Alla had to quit a few months after the conspiracy against her began.

This is a typical example of mobbing ( mob- crowd), or persecution by a group of people of one person. As a rule, the goal of mobbing and other types of psychological pressure is to make the victim lose his nerve and shamefully flee from the “battlefield.”

The main difference between targeted bullying and ordinary conflicts and strained relationships with someone is its consistency and duration, from several weeks to several years. There are other signs that suggest that a war has been launched against you. For example, regular criticism, often too petty or lacking any specifics; ridicule and insults; threats and outright slander. They hide important information from you or do not provide it on time; are loaded with tasks that are not particularly relevant to your competence; they are not invited to joint team events... But if you are presented with justified complaints about the truly poor quality of your work, you cannot attribute them to bullying.

A person subjected to psychological terror may also develop health problems: sleep disorders, physical exhaustion, constant migraines, and various diseases. Self-esteem falls, self-doubt appears. When dealing with health problems, pursuers will also not fail to play another trump card: “Why keep an employee who is always on sick leave?”

Five reasons for mobbing

There are several most common reasons for mobbing and its variants.

1. Banal envy and the fear that you will cross someone's path - this is why successful professionals are quite often ostracized.
2. Sometimes the trigger becomes quarrel between people which, when reaching its peak, leads to harassment in the workplace.
3. Another option - the boss and his subordinate have already had a relationship, going beyond the official: for example, friendship or love. But then they were interrupted. However, both parties have to work together, and in some cases the boss will try to get rid of the person with whom he had something in common.
4. Most often, office wars are provoked by unhealthy atmosphere in the company— constant staff turnover, a strict system of fines and control, distrust of each other. In such a team there is tension hidden for the time being, which sooner or later will require release. And then anyone can become a scapegoat.
5. A large role in determining whether there is a witch hunt tendency in an organization is leader's personality. There are bosses who love to manipulate people and pit them against each other. Collective bullying of an employee occurs with their tacit approval, or even at their suggestion, when they want to get rid of an objectionable person through the wrong hands. Sometimes managers underestimate the seriousness of the current situation, tolerate such antics of their subordinates and do not take any measures against the instigators of bullying, leaving them with a feeling of impunity. But the boss, like no one else, is responsible for the positive psychological climate in the team and the resolution of industrial conflicts.

Daria Stasevich, psychologist

Some companies have adopted “hazing” of newcomers; this is a kind of tradition of joining the team. When you go through this stage, everything will most likely work out. You can look at the reasons for putting pressure on yourself from the other side. Maybe, similar situations have already met in your life. Then you need to figure out what in your behavior can provoke others to such an attitude. For example, you are used to playing the role of a victim and do not know how to stand up for yourself. Or you are too different from your colleagues - in behavior, appearance, - and they don’t understand you and don’t accept you. Among other reasons - you, out of ignorance or deliberately, ignore the established “rules of the game” and do not share the values ​​of the group; you came to the company through connections; They want to put “their” person in your place.

Bullying: one on one

When the boss of Maya, who worked as an assistant judge, was hospitalized for a whole year due to a serious illness, his employees were temporarily transferred to another site. There the woman had to deal with the inappropriate behavior of one of her colleagues. “She worked as an assistant to my new boss and for some reason immediately took a dislike to me, she did dirty tricks with terrible force. Either she would spread rumors behind my back that I supposedly got the job through bed. she gave it to me,” Maya shares.

This is another version of psychological terror - bullying (bully), or the persecution by one person of another, usually of equal status. It is believed that a characteristic feature of bullers is a constant thirst for “fresh blood”. Often after the victim, unable to withstand the bullying, quits, the attacker takes over for the next “lamb.”

How to improve relationships?

If you feel that a purposeful large-scale action is being carried out against you, you can choose several fighting strategies. The main thing is to realize what you are willing to fight for.

Try to rebuff the aggressors decisively. Another option is to ignore the attacks with the expectation that sooner or later they will leave you alone. A technique such as “external agreement” also helps: “Perhaps you are right, I’ll think about it.” Sometimes this has the effect of surprise: you were expected to have an outburst of anger or lame excuses, and now you have a chance to take control of the situation.

Ask your boss for help. By and large, mobbing or bullying can be stopped if the appropriate measures are taken. Otherwise, further struggle for your rights may turn into a battle with windmills.

You can also take certain steps to prevent possible negative attitudes towards yourself. When hiring, find out what the company's corporate culture and values ​​are, whether mutual assistance, respect for each other, etc. are accepted. Sources of such information are interviews with the HR manager and the future manager. If you are hired by a company whose products you have used, pay attention to how the stores of this organization treat customers. After all, this is often a reflection of the style of relationships within the company. During probationary period You can also learn a lot of interesting things. For example, about whether there is pressure on any of the employees. If such a phenomenon exists, draw appropriate conclusions.

Karina Khutaeva, director of the international educational center

If you experience bullying at work, stay calm and don't stoop to the level of the bullies. Don't yell or intimidate back. Often, “attackers” deliberately provoke you, expecting retaliatory aggression, since this will give them a chance to respond to you with even stronger provocation. It is not recommended to cry or show your weakness; this is expected of you first of all. Continue to do quality work, because “well-wishers” hope to see you broken, and when you achieve success over and over again, they perceive it as failure. Be sure to show the results of your work to your superiors to protect yourself from malicious slander about your unprofessionalism. And do not allow yourself to be isolated from your loyal colleagues; maintain business and friendly ties with them.

Natalya Verigina, business coach

People with low self-esteem often become victims of bullying or mobbing, so it is important to work on increasing it. This will help by contacting a psychologist, participating and winning professional skills competitions. Those who keep themselves apart from the group are often persecuted. Learn to build relationships with people - this will make it easier to establish contact with colleagues and form an “army of allies.” They can be employees not only from their own, but also from related departments, and even more important - the immediate supervisor. Learn to defend your position, taking into account the interests of all parties and the “rituals” accepted in the company, so that controversial situations do not develop into a violent conflict. Do not create enemies for yourself with your own hands.

Bossing: boss - against

The confrontation between Nina and her boss has been going on for a long time, and no one will remember the root cause. The manager creates an unbearable work environment for his employee. He sets unrealistic deadlines for her to complete tasks, demands strict adherence to labor discipline, and the rest are given significant concessions. Nina is in constant stress, and so far the only thing stopping her from quitting is greater fear remain unemployed.

In this case we're talking about about bossing ( boss- chief, boss), bullying by a leader of his subordinate. In fact, this is the same bullying, but not horizontal, but vertical. It is usually used when the boss does not have enough compelling arguments to legally fire a person.

As a rule, the victim has little hope of getting help from his colleagues, because they are not at all eager to fall under the punishing sword. Sometimes the boss’s attitude towards someone is perceived by his subordinates as a clear indication of action; in such a situation, the person is under the crossfire of bullying from literally all sides.

They may put pressure on you, forcing you to urgently write a resignation letter. at will. Do not make any decisions in a hurry; you have every right to take a break to think. If you agree to quit your job, try to negotiate a dismissal by agreement of the parties. This assumes that both sides are willing to make concessions to each other. You leave, and the employer, if you can reach an agreement with him, pays severance pay in a certain size. After all, dismissal on one’s own initiative only involves compensation for unused vacation.

Experts recommend, in any case, to quit a company where people are allowed to terrorize people with impunity, and the sooner the better. Otherwise, the consequences for your health and psychological state may become irreversible.

Daria Stasevich, psychologist

If your boss decides to fire you, you will have a very difficult time. But your departure is not the only scenario, although it is very likely. You can try to transfer to another department of the same company or to another branch or even region, if possible. You can turn to your superiors or the court for help. There are also city and district labor inspectorates. It is important to provide documentary evidence of violation of your rights - dictaphone recordings of conversations with superiors, various correspondence, employment contract etc.

Leeds described the four most common types of problematic colleagues in the book “ Full order. A weekly plan for dealing with chaos at work, at home and in your head.” The communication strategy that will help you get along with him depends on who the employee is annoying you. Or simply protect yourself from its “harmfulness”.

Skeptic

He doesn’t believe in anything or anyone, and especially not in your good endeavors. But the most disgusting quality of a Skeptic is that he will never be too lazy to tell you about his doubts, and even publicly, with a chuckle and obvious pleasure.

“In the office, the Skeptic will constantly say that your efforts will lead to nothing. This is the same person for whom the glass is never half full - it is always half empty. If a Skeptic sees that you are trying to organize your workplace, he may even set up a bet and take bets on how long your new order will last.”

And it would be okay, he just bothered his ear every day: in the end, you can train your attention so that it turns off, and the brain filters this incoming information. But listening to the mantra “You will never succeed”, “You will never be promoted”, etc. you can truly believe that you are doomed to fail. And with such an attitude, nothing will happen to you except chronic depression.

How to act. To begin with, realize that the Skeptic behaves this way not because of great intelligence and the ability to predict the future. Simply, this person is not confident in his abilities and is very afraid of failures, and in order to live more calmly, he transfers his complexes to everyone around him. That is, when he snorts contemptuously and says that you will never deliver the project on time, he rather convinces himself of this, not you. In general, come to the conclusion that your “monster” is actually just a weak, complex person. After this, you yourself will not notice how you will begin to let all his comments fall on deaf ears.

smart ass

Each of us likes to be clever sometimes, but some simply have a pathological need to present themselves as better than others. Every single day, Smart Guy tries to boast about one thing or another, emphasize his even the most insignificant superiority and constantly asks for compliments, which you, as a tactful person, simply cannot refuse him. As Leeds writes, “He should be doing better than you. Did you set a sales record last month? Great, but he sold more. Do you like this book? He has better. And so on".

How to act. Just like the Skeptic, such a person deserves only pity. If he needs constant confirmation that he is worthy of something, then he is deeply unhappy and unsure of himself.

Dictator

All of a sudden you have another, self-proclaimed boss? Happens. Everyone possible ways this person will try to impose his methods of doing work on you, because he considers them the only correct ones, and everything else for him is heresy. Even if you produce the required result within the established time frame, but at the same time “come from the other side,” the Dictator will ridicule you in every possible way and will remain in the opinion that he knows your work better.

How to act. If the Dictator's claims to power are not confirmed staffing table, listen to him the same way as Smarty, and do it your way. It's much easier and less traumatic for your nervous system how to try to convince him that you are right.

If your actual boss turns out to be the Dictator, you will have to reluctantly do as he wants. Gradually you will win his trust and recognition that you also have at least a drop of intelligence. And after that, you can carefully try your own methods, asking permission from your boss in advance. A dictatorial boss likes to be in the know, so if you do something—even something good—behind his back, it will really piss him off.

Scoundrel

A typical manifestation of “office” meanness is the theft of ideas (merits, achievements, etc.) in order to later pass them off as one’s own. Usually a person who is capable of this tries to gain the trust of everyone in the team, everyone likes him and adores everyone, but he probably talks all sorts of nasty things behind his back. Scoundrels can also be classified as gossips - but not simple talkers, but those who use personal information for career purposes - sticklers (they like to ride on someone else's hump) and sneakers who will not miss the opportunity to report to their superiors that you are 5 minutes late.

How to act. It makes no sense to create a scandal and enter into a public confrontation with the Scoundrel. Most likely, his cunning and ability to suck up to his superiors will help him get away with it, and in the worst case, also make you look like a fool. If the importance and scale of the idea stolen from you is insignificant and the Scoundrel’s “merit” will be forgotten the very next day, it is better to remain silent altogether and just remember that you should not be frank with this person. If we are talking about long-term strategy, direction advertising company, brand concept, etc., it is worth discussing the situation personally with your immediate superior, and not in the tone of a complaint, but asking for advice. Still, they don’t really like sneaks either.