Attitude Problems

One of my friends started his first job right after graduation from college and quickly found that he was having conflict with most of the people he worked with. This unfortunately was what eventually signed his pink slip. The fact of the matter is that just like we wear different clothes to work than we do to a weekend barbecue, we have to wear a different face at work than we do outside of work.

My friend, we will call him Dean, had a very loud personality. His voice carried, he was a bit arrogant, and many people found him to be obnoxious. While Dean was good at his what he did, the fact that his attitude was so abrasive was a show stopper. Dean would demand things, and complain, and when he screamed across the company because he wanted attention- his reputation became one, not of a good worker, but of an obnoxious loud mouth.

If you begin to work in an office setting, it is absolutely necessary that one keeps his or her attitude in check, and even curtail one's personality a bit, so that the work environment is one that you find yourself thriving in, and not just surviving in. Being quiet, and doing your work and speaking only when it is necessary is a trait that is quite useful, especially at work.

When it came to Dean, he had been the type of person in college, and presumably in all areas of his private life, who had no problem saying what was on his mind. While he was smart and a very good worker, his arrogance and childlike ways at the job were inappropriate. It is important to remember- there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, being direct, and being obnoxious.

Don't get too hung up on trying to prove yourself at work. Don't get it twisted, though, you will have to prove yourself, and that will never change, but co-workers and managers alike will notice whether one is working hard and learning his or her job in order to prove oneself, or if a bunch of hot air and attitude is all one has to offer.

Dean did get another job eventually, but he certainly had to change his attitude and the way he approached the workplace. His brazen and loud personality is okay when he gets together with friends or family- those are the people who love him and understand him, but at work he learned that to be assertive is the best policy, and that aggressive and bullying behavior is not the way to earn respect or remain employed.