In an article for LinkedIn, Travis Bradberry identifies various character types you should try to avoid becoming.
"The coward"
Fear can exert a powerful hold over people. Those affected by it do not always behave rationally; they also have a tendency to point the finger at others in an effort to conceal their own shortcomings.
"The Dementor"
The name is based on a malevolent, soul-destroying creature in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. Dementors spread despair by inducing an atmosphere of doom and gloom where nothing of the kind previously existed.
"The arrogant"
Arrogant people are best avoided if possible. Their attitude is a facade, which conceals an underlying lack of confidence. They are usually below-average performers and not really very nice people to know.
"The group-thinker"
Group-thinkers are stuck in their traditional ways and are happy to go along with the crowd even if the chosen path is leading nowhere.
"The short-changed"
These people seek scapegoats for their own lack of success. They fail to acknowledge the hard graft behind other people’s success and mistakenly see themselves as victims of circumstances.
"The temperamental"
Emotionally unstable people are unable to reflect rationally and will blame others for their own poor performance.
"The victim"
Victims may initially even inspire sympathy but it soon becomes apparent they are incapable of facing up to any kind of problem; on the contrary, they can turn even the smallest molehill into a mountain.
"The gullible"
Gullible types, often new recruits, accept everything that comes their way without protest. They would do better and be taken more seriously if they occasionally made themselves heard.
"The apologiser"
Some people never apologise but there are those who go to the opposite extreme. This even extends to communicating their own opinions, which they tend to offer more as tentative questions than confident statements.
Bradberry states that none of the above-mentioned types are doomed forever to fail in their professional lives: it is possible to modify one’s behaviour providing the individual is sufficiently self-critical to acknowledge the problem and if the will to change is strong enough.
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