Personalities Archives

Is My Boss Manipulating Me? 12 Signs To Look For

Workplace Experiences

Is My Boss Manipulating Me? Here Are 12 Signs Of A Manipulative Boss

Working in a toxic environment is what I consider a ‘silent killer’. Maybe you can relate to this. The effect settles in over time, not all at once. You start feeling less enthusiasm for your work. You start questioning you own abilities and skill. You take home a little more baggage with you each day. You’re working more to ‘keep up’. You feel worn out, tired, and Monday mornings are your worst enemy. You feel like you’re being drained of your life force one day at a time. Let’s get into the ways bosses manipulate employees, and what to do about them!

Pat Finnegan April 3, 2022

Workplace Experiences

Surviving A Two-Faced Boss: A Few Tips From Experience

Most of us have worked for a bad boss at some point. Whether they’re mean, incompetent, selfish or manipulative, bad bosses all have one thing in common – the ability to drive their subordinates nuts. The vast majority of people just want to come to work, have a decent day and head home when it’s over. Unfortunately, the ‘vast majority’ still doesn’t mean everyone. Some people can’t help but to get involved in drama or negativity at work – even if they must start it themselves. Other people don’t crave drama per se, but their personality and mindset effects others anyways. That brings us to our main topic: dealing with a two-faced boss. Let’s talk about how they act and how to ‘survive’ working for one.

Pat Finnegan March 19, 2021

Workplace Experiences

Why Do Idiots Get Promoted? 7 Reasons To Consider

We all know at least one person at work who’s…….not great. They make mistake after mistake, act like jerks, gossip, bring negative energy and seem totally incapable of doing any job well, let alone a job in upper management. “They’re so stupid, a trained monkey could do a better job!”. Dumb managers and coworkers are so common that it’s a storyline repeated all over TV and movies. We can all relate to this regardless of industry and geographic location and in that, we at least have each other. But it does beg the question – how does this keep happening? Why do idiots get promoted? In this article, we’re talking about 7 common reasons why this is the case.

Pat Finnegan May 27, 2020

Project Manager Soft Skills

How To Deal With A Coworker You Don’t Trust: The Do’s & Don’ts

Trust is a vital aspect of any relationship. This applies to our family, friends, romantic partners and coworkers alike. Just like our family and romantic partners, we must see our coworkers for an extended amount of time every day. In most instances, we spend more waking hours with our coworkers while working full-time than we spend with our families – that’s a lot of time at work! When we have great coworkers who we can trust, this doesn’t feel nearly as harsh as it sounds. What happens when we just can’t trust coworkers? It could be something they’ve done, rumors we hear or just our gut feeling – regardless, a situation like this puts a tremendous strain on our work life. In this article, we’re talking about how to deal with a coworker you don’t trust!

Pat Finnegan December 19, 2019

Project Management

Managing Jerks As A Project Manager: What To Act On & What To Accept

As Project Managers, we get the ‘pleasure’ of working with people of every variety. Not only are we expected to work alongside everyone else involved with the project, but we’re also expected to help them, answer questions and provide direction. Simple enough, right? Well, on paper it is. Management gets difficult when personalities begin to clash. Maybe a teammate thinks you’re stupid and doesn’t want to listen to you. Perhaps they think you’re too smart and are threatened by you. Even more vague – they might just not like you for their own reasons. While this seems like a big deal when it’s happening to us, it’s statistically inevitable – no one can please everyone. Manage enough people over time and you’ll run into difficulty with some. Today, we’re taking about managing jerks as a Project Manager, along with which behavior we should act on vs. let slide. Let’s get into it!

Pat Finnegan December 17, 2019

Project Management

Working For Difficult Clients As A Project Manager: Avoid These 5 Things

The Clients you work for as a Project Manager are like chocolates in a box – some of them suck. Such is life! We don’t always get to work for Clients that are nice, reasonable or even people we like on an individual basis. This is made ten times worse when we consider that Clients control most of the cards on the table – including payment! On projects like these, we need to work even harder as Project Managers to manage not only the work, but the Client too. In this article, we’re talking about working for difficult Clients as a Project Manager, along with 5 things to avoid at all costs.

Pat Finnegan November 27, 2019

Workplace Experiences

How To Not Be Annoying At Work: A Few Things To Keep In Mind

The hustle, the deadlines, the frustrations…work is difficult enough as it is. When we add an annoying coworker to the mix, though, our work lives can become too much to bear. Nobody likes an annoying coworker, and they have the ability to bring down the entire operation if left to their own devices. Let’s not be hypocrites – judgement of others is easy, but introspection is not. If we expect peace and serenity while working, we must also make sure that we don’t become that annoying coworker ourselves! In this article, we’re talking about how to not be annoying at work, along with a few tips to keep in mind.

Pat Finnegan November 4, 2019

Career Planning

What Qualities To Look For In A Boss? The Things My Favorite Boss Did

I find myself thinking about a lot of the negatives associated with project management and the workplace, even without meaning to. Delays, problems, issues, disputes, claims, manipulative people, standing up for yourself at work and other similar topics are what many of my articles are written about. There’s validity behind all of these topics for sure, but there’s a lot of good we can discuss at work, too – in project management and beyond. How you feel at work often comes down to who your coworkers are. The most important coworker of them all, though, is your boss. I imagine that there’s very few people who love their job but can’t stand their bosses. Today, we are exploring the question of “What are the qualities to look for in a good boss?”. I will answer by examining my favorite boss and the seven qualities he possessed!

Pat Finnegan October 29, 2019

While most people appreciate others who communicate directly, many of us find it difficult to actually do ourselves. Information is exchanged efficiently, there are fewer misinterpretations and most comments are honest, so why is it that we feel uncomfortable speaking directly with others? This is especially important at work when we depend on others to perform our duties, and they rely on us, too. It's highly beneficial to adopt this communication style regardless of position or line of work - it's essential to living! In this article, we'll discuss some simple tips for being direct in the workplace, without being a jerk.

Project Manager Soft Skills

Being Direct In The Workplace, Without Being A Jerk: 10 Simple Steps

While most people appreciate others who communicate directly, many of us find it difficult to actually do ourselves. Information is exchanged efficiently, there are fewer misinterpretations and most comments are honest, so why is it that we feel uncomfortable speaking directly with others? This is especially important at work when we depend on others to perform our duties, and they rely on us, too. It’s highly beneficial to adopt this communication style regardless of position or line of work – it’s essential to living! In this article, we’ll discuss some simple tips for being direct in the workplace, without being

Pat Finnegan October 21, 2019

Project Manager Soft Skills

Managing Egos At Work: How To Decipher The Hidden Messages

Most people have more than one version of themselves inside. We have our rational minds – the part of us that’s calm, logical and conscious of reality, and then we have our ego – the self-preserving, survival-based irrational mind that is mostly based in emotion (feelings) rather than fact. Emotions like anger, frustration, disdain, jealousy and fear are just a few of the feelings that can trigger our ego to jump in and take over. While social pressures and societal standards incentivize us to be on our best behavior, our egos can still flare up in public, around others and yes, even at work. Humans have egos in part for survival purposes, but in current times, it doesn’t feel that way. We go to work to perform our duties and take home our pay, but that doesn’t stop us from being humans as we do it. Today, we discuss managing egos at work, specifically by deciphering the hidden meaning behind what egos are really saying.

Pat Finnegan October 15, 2019

CATEGORY | Personalities

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Is My Boss Manipulating Me? Here Are 12 Signs Of A Manipulative Boss

Surviving A Two-Faced Boss: A Few Tips From Experience

Why Do Idiots Get Promoted? 7 Reasons To Consider

How To Deal With A Coworker You Don’t Trust: The Do’s & Don’ts

Managing Jerks As A Project Manager: What To Act On & What To Accept

Working For Difficult Clients As A Project Manager: Avoid These 5 Things

How To Not Be Annoying At Work: A Few Things To Keep In Mind

What Qualities To Look For In A Boss? The Things My Favorite Boss Did

Being Direct In The Workplace, Without Being A Jerk: 10 Simple Steps

Managing Egos At Work: How To Decipher The Hidden Messages

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