People I Work With: The Little Generals

Next up in our fun little series is "the little generals". It's not just people with a Napoleon complex (but many times are people with some sort of inferiority complex). It's anyone who runs around the office like a general. It always has to be their way, right away...or else. They don't listen to others speak or really care what they have to say--they are right and everyone else is wrong, so why bother? Worst of all is that they usually are they least productive and most inefficient because they don't leverage their co-workers or consider other opinions.

This person is not just the worst type of person to work for, but they're also the worst to work with. And it leads to a lot of trouble in the office. These people talk down and over everyone else. No one wants to approach them for help and many issues end up not getting solved because of their stubbornness. They are the worse type of office bullies--and they usually end up making the wrong decision.

How does Human Resources deal with these people? Well the first thing to do is to make sure that the office environment is not one that breeds these. Telling someone to always take control is not always the best decision. Sometimes these people just need a talking to. They're intimidating even for Human Resources, but no one should have free reign to talk down to everyone else in the office. You want employees to be right--but you don't want them to think they're the only one right all the time. And you certainly can't afford them bullying everyone else in the office. The less "little generals" you have, the better your "army" of office workers will run.

-Andrew