A Taxonomy of Troublemakers for Those Navigating Difficult Colleagues

Disruptive technology is one thing. Disruptive co-workers are another. Here, Dr. Jody Foster classifies the types of colleagues whom others find difficult — and advises how to navigate working with them.

TWO SIDES OF THE COIN

Think about a bad interaction at work — and how you felt about your next exchange with those involved. Were you preoccupied or distracted? Were they? “It’s true that one disruptive individual can infect a team — or even an entire company. But the good news is that most people aren't behaving badly out of malice. They’re just bringing their personalities to work,” says Foster. “Most often, people are shockingly unaware that their behavior is causing trouble. Their personality works in other settings, so by default they bring it to the workplace too.”

Dig in a bit deeper into personality-driven behaviors and it’s more complex: a behavior often isn’t good or bad in and of itself — it’s the application of that behavior to a given context that’s good or bad. “Every personality has positive sides. It's good to have confidence or be attentive to details. But for every positive in a personality, there’s a negative underbelly,” says Foster. “The goal for committed managers or colleagues is to help others flip to the positive application of their personality — mainly through direct, candid feedback. Research shows that, in about 70% of cases, difficult people will be shocked about how their behavior is being received and will simply self-correct. They didn’t know, and just stop. Unvarnished, direct feedback is key.”

EIGHT TROUBLESOME COLLEAGUES TO SPOT

Issuing candid feedback is a skill and habit in its own right, but one’s ability to navigate difficult personalities can improve with more insight into each archetype. “So, I've been doing this for quite a while and I've come to find is that, barring major physical, mental or structural problems, the people who get into interpersonal trouble with others at work tend to fall into a few major buckets,” says Foster. “Of course, humans are complex, so many span a few categories, but if you can get your arms around these archetypes, you’ll be better equipped to interact with them.”

Here’s a list of eight difficult personality types — and how their behavior can manifest positively or negatively in the workplace.

Narcissus
-thinks highly of oneself, ballooning self-esteem
As a positive trait: willingness to try new things with any possibility of success
As a negative trait: entitled, condescending, self-centered, attention-seeking

Venus Flytrap

very appealing initially, eventually brings chaos
As a positive trait: incredibly persuasive and relatable to many people
As a negative trait: shifts expectations/emotions, creating unstable relationships

Swindler

systematic and charming, but dangerous and self-propagating
As a positive trait: magnetic, influential, savvy and resourceful
As a negative trait: no regard for rules, laws, or for other people

Bean Counter

controls quality, but becomes a bottleneck
As a positive trait: focused, persistent and involved
As a negative trait: obsessive, paralyzed, blocks progress

Distracted

a nutty professor, can’t time-manage, organize or finish tasks
As a positive trait: brilliant, curious and informed
As a negative trait: procrastinating, preoccupied and noncommittal

Robotic

process-oriented, but struggles to connect with people
As a positive trait: structured, focused, rule-bound
As a negative trait: rigid, aloof, disconnected, mechanical

Eccentric

unique individual, but with peculiar ideas
As a positive trait: original, strong beliefs, big thinker
As a negative trait: difficult to understand, detached, irrational

Suspicious

Self-protective, but paranoid, often with a conspiratorial world view
As a positive trait: vigilant, prizes loyalty/trust, confidential
As a negative trait: insecure, fearful, always at war

TWO COMMON DISRUPTIVE ARCHETYPES AT STARTUPS

In her book, Foster outlines in great detail how to deal with each one of the disruptive profiles in the workplace. However, when she spoke to our community of startup founders, she stressed two archetypes in particular for early-stage companies to monitor for and manage: Narcissus and Bean Counter.

The Narcissus

This profile can be both the engine and the noose for many startups. “Many of us who help build companies fit this profile — myself included — and you’ll definitely work with one. After all, it isn’t wrong to have some narcissism. I mean if we didn't have a bit of extra self-belief, it’s hard to rise to the challenge to get to where we want to go,” says Foster. “But when an inflated ego, self-praise and condescension take over, it can become a problem quickly. The Narcissus is initially very charismatic, inspiring people to follow him. There’s a lot of belief in the Narcissus and his ability to come through with everything they promise, but there’s often disappointment.”

Here are other signs or attributes of a Narcissus:

Is “the best” or knows “the most”
Fishes for compliments
Talks to hear himself talk
Name drops
Takes credit for others’ work
“My way or the highway” attitude
Is sensitive to rejection

The Narcissus leans toward monologues (over dialogues), often finds worth in pedigree (over purpose) and demands mind-reading (rather than communicating so he’s understood).

Bean Counter

At the root of the Bean Counter’s personality is obsession, a thought or impulse that dominates one’s mind. For this profile, it manifests as holding on to every detail and a tendency to be organized in a particular way — even if not helpful to others. Often their extraordinary effort to hang on, gather and sort interferes with their productivity — and that of the teams around them.

Here are other signs or attributes of the Bean Counter:

Is inflexible and closed-minded
Has difficulty making decisions and being efficient
Gets “stuck in the weeds” and “can’t see the forest through the trees”
Micromanages others
Hangs onto details and wants them organized in a very particular way
Preoccupied with orderliness and control

FOSTER’S TAKEAWAYS

It’s easy to classify difficult people and write them off as challenges. Regardless of which disruptive colleagues you may encounter, she recommends taking agency with the following five steps:

Check yourself. “When someone is causing you trouble or you're having difficulty with someone at work, check yourself. Have you ever just disliked somebody because they reminded you of somebody else you disliked? It happens. Take a beat and make sure that your reaction is calibrated.”
Name the beast. “It's very easy to call someone a jerk or a schmuck. But people aren't necessarily schmucks at all — there’s a mismatch between their personality-driven behavior and the situation. Define exactly what it is that’s causing trouble because once you can define the behavior, it can really help you with your intervention.”
Empathize with their anxiety. “Take what you know about people. People love to tell you about themselves. Listen. If they're having interpersonal trouble, figure out which bucket they might fall into and try to empathize with the anxiety that’s causing them to act that way.”
Call out the behavior. “Decide whether you're going to call out the behavior or not. Some behavior's so egregious that you absolutely have to call it out in the moment. Other times when you notice the behavior recurring, schedule a private meeting to talk about that pattern.”
Keep it short. Be direct. “If you do call out the behavior, keep it short, be concise, and be direct. And try to do this feedback or intervention as close to a recent event as possible to give the other person the best chance of hearing the message.”