It’s Time for the Men
I’ve been wanting to write a post about the bad habits of the men on Celebrity Apprentice, but they’ve won each challenge they’ve been handed. So I’m struggling a bit to link their behavior to losing in the workplace. But I can’t think of any good reason to act like some of the men have been acting, so here goes.
They have been…
- Dismissing others because of their gender or their apparent lack of power
- Sensing weakness and immediately jumping in to take advantage
- Talking over teammates without regard to their ideas or opinions
- Being so arrogant as to think their ideas are the only ones to consider — and ignoring the rest
If you’ve been watching, you might think I’m talking about Gene. But it hasn’t been just Gene.
So, regardless — man or woman, Gene, Piers or Stephen – these habits won’t serve you well in the long term.
February 4th, 2008 at 9:13 am
While I agree wholeheartedly with your judgment regarding the list of “bad habits” (my mother taught me these were just plain bad manners), my experience has been that these techniques for dominating a discussion frequently do yield more attention for the person who uses them. This can result in decisions being made based on the opinions of those who most effectively exercise these conversational power plays, rather than an objective analysis of the facts and an evaluation of all the available options. Is politeness a handicap in the business environment?
February 4th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Dear Mojo Workin: In the short term, politeness might be a handicap. But I will argue that in the long term the things our mothers taught us should win out!