Do You Work With Mr. Forceful?

One of the most interesting aspects of blogging about careers and the workplace, is the ‘people watching.’ Everyone has their own unique style. One style, which I personally find quite irritating, I’ve coined as is ‘Mr. Forceful.’

You know the type. In fact, there’s a good chance he’s sitting next to you.

He thinks imposing his will on you will help his ‘career progress.’ He thinks he’s slick, but his actions are easily identifiable. Tactics used by this guy are more transparent than he’ll ever know.

Talking Loud: Particularly at meetings and in groups. As if the louder the decibel the greater the influence.

Controlling All Information. You ask for a report and get the runaround. Even the simplest request gets stonewalled.

Inability to Assign Tasks. Mr. Forceful has a staff, but you wonder what they’re doing. He also likes to surround himself with passive people.

Finger In All Pies. He tries to be involved in everything, yet is a master of none. Mr. F doesn’t understand boundaries and ends up insulting colleagues. By making more enemies than friends, he’s really hindering his career progress.

Anger/Hostility. A tactic frequently employed by Mr. F is using negativity to control the mood.

Long Hours: Quantity not quality. He thinks being the first one in and the last one out threatens the competition. But we think Mr. F just ends up just looking like a loser.

I often find Mr. Forceful to be a ‘large’ individual. Whether it’s weight or height, this person thinks that size matters.

Work happenings such as mergers, promotions and seismic shifts of power do not happen overnight. You can plant the seed and water the plant and shine the sun all in one day, but the plant will still not show up in an hour. We wish Mr. Forceful would learn that lesson.

Do you work with Mr. Forceful? Tell us about him.