Dealing with People
Unless you plan on a career as a mail carrier or a poet, you’re probably going to have to learn to deal with people successfully in order to move ahead. And interpersonal skills can be among the toughest to master. Even if you’ve successfully negotiated difficult relationships with roommates, friends, and siblings, learning to manage potential interpersonal minefields on the job is an entirely new skill set.
Unlike your family and friends, your office mates don’t have emotional ties to you and therefore don’t have the same incentive to accommodate or compromise. Moreover, it’s not always clear who holds the power. In relationships that should consist of equal peers, according to the organization chart, one person frequently wields unofficial weight in the company. Other times, bosses behave more like employees. Making your way through these potentially sticky situations requires intelligence, tact, and professionalism.
There are 3 main groups of people with whom you’ll come into contact, regardless of your particular job: