Effective Communication

Are you - in your own opinion, of course - the star of the office? Do you believe with perfect faith that you're the brightest and best you can get in the workplace - for efficiency, competence and devotion to duty?

If so, I have bad news for you. For your fellow workers and associates, on the other hand, "news" is hardly be the right word. It's nothing they didn't know all along, really. All the same, they'll be delighted to hear it.

Because now it's official - backed up by hard data.

According to University of Florida management professor Timothy Judge, whose research is scheduled for publication shortly in the Journal of Applied Psychology, conceited, vain and self-absorbed employees rarely live up to their high opinions of themselves.

In the view of their managers and colleagues, cocky individuals just don't deliver the goods.

In the research study, people who scored high on a psychological measure for narcissism were asked to rate their own leadership and job skills. Then their bosses and co-workers were asked to rate their performance. Apparently, ratings from colleagues averaged 20% lower than the self-scored reports.

"It's one thing to think you're better than other people when in fact you're no better; quite another to think you're better when you're actually worse," commented Prof. Judge.

As the professor warns, in extreme cases the lack of a realistic appraisal of oneself can have dangerous consequences. After all, people with grandiose views of their capabilities have been directly responsible for tragedies of major proportions in this world. History in every age is replete with examples, and modern times are certainly no exception.

On a more everyday level, narcissists , for all their outward displays of toughness, easily feel threatened and are inclined to react aggressively when their inflated view of themselves is challenged. Empathy and social skills are not usually the strongest points of vain and egotistical people.

But perhaps the saddest thing of all is the waste of human potential. As Prof. Judge puts it: "Not recognizing your own limitations in the workplace is going to keep you from developing from trying to develop skills that will help you improve and make your organization more effective."

What can we do to help these hapless people? Yes, specialists in the field are offering training programs in developing empathy for managers who may be technically competent but deficient in interpersonal skills.

But how can the foot soldiers of the workforce, the rank and file, contribute to the rehabilitation of that (hopefully) small minority - their high opinionated but underperforming colleagues, with whom they rub shoulders every day?

I'm not sure. What do you say?

Labels: the workplace

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