Do you know one of those people who are super friendly and great to be around at first and enjoy getting lots of attention, and then turn on you like a rabid dog when they are ignored? Having been somewhat of a wallflower for much of my life, I seem to attract these kinds of people like a bad haircut.
At most of my jobs there’s been someone like that. Sometimes there has been more than one at a time. It’s like watching a fencing match, one jab after another. It’s fascinating watching them thrust and lunge and burst into a ball of flames to one up each other. Just stay out of the way until the war is over or one of them leaves. Then you’ll have to help clean up the mess. Attention seekers rarely help clean up their own messes unless it gets them some accolades. They’ll be the first ones to leave when they think the party’s over. They bounce around from relationship to relationship and job to job when they need a new audience. Especially when their charm has worn thin on everyone they work with.
The biggest problem for the rest of us is that they suck the air out of the room and the life out of us. They are very draining when dealing with them. Now I'm not talking about those creative genius types, or the gifted ones. I’m talking about the kind of people with nothing much going on. You know the type; they peaked in high school and barely made it through college. They spend their lives trying to prove to themselves that they matter. They have to prove to themselves that they are better than everyone else. Then they drag you into their car crash existence.
Instead of working hard and earning the attention that they get, they crawl over everyone else to wave their flags to get the bosses’ attention and anyone else who is watching. It’s all about the show, not the substance. If they are responsible for something that you may have a part in, put your armor on and watch out when they crack their whip. They have no mercy, because it’s all about them. So you’d better duck.
They are most annoying when they need other people to make them look good. Don’t ever expect them to share the credit either, or you will be waiting till hell freezes over. Just when you think they are going to say what a great job you did, they will find a way to make it known that they helped you to do it better. I listened in amazement as someone took direct credit for a display and materials I had created. As my superiors gave him a special gift for “all of his hard work”, I vowed to never help the attention grabbers in life take that kind of advantage of me again.
You’ll know the Attention Grabber when you get hit with their arrows. There is a lot of talk and very little actual work. They have no actual friends, only usable people. People who were their friends tend to avoid them after being burned so many times.
I’ve tried turning it around on them, but if they are very proficient at their game, they can slam you down in a heart beat. I’ve learned to wait them out. When I see one coming, I take a deep breath and try to keep too busy to play their game.
They all eventually crash and burn. When pressed to do real work once too often, they often quit. I worked with one who gave notice and told our boss not to tell anyone. He sat at a special luncheon for over three hours with all of his colleagues and said hardy a word. (That’s one sign they are not getting enough attention.) He didn’t know that our boss was so thrilled that he was actually leaving; she had broken protocol and told me. I watched him sit in anger that day. Oh happy day, he had nothing to say for once. I enjoyed watching him act like a martyr that day. It was my day of retribution for being walked all over. All of the hard work that I had done on projects, that he had insinuated were his idea and had gotten credit for where over.
At most of my jobs there’s been someone like that. Sometimes there has been more than one at a time. It’s like watching a fencing match, one jab after another. It’s fascinating watching them thrust and lunge and burst into a ball of flames to one up each other. Just stay out of the way until the war is over or one of them leaves. Then you’ll have to help clean up the mess. Attention seekers rarely help clean up their own messes unless it gets them some accolades. They’ll be the first ones to leave when they think the party’s over. They bounce around from relationship to relationship and job to job when they need a new audience. Especially when their charm has worn thin on everyone they work with.
The biggest problem for the rest of us is that they suck the air out of the room and the life out of us. They are very draining when dealing with them. Now I'm not talking about those creative genius types, or the gifted ones. I’m talking about the kind of people with nothing much going on. You know the type; they peaked in high school and barely made it through college. They spend their lives trying to prove to themselves that they matter. They have to prove to themselves that they are better than everyone else. Then they drag you into their car crash existence.
Instead of working hard and earning the attention that they get, they crawl over everyone else to wave their flags to get the bosses’ attention and anyone else who is watching. It’s all about the show, not the substance. If they are responsible for something that you may have a part in, put your armor on and watch out when they crack their whip. They have no mercy, because it’s all about them. So you’d better duck.
They are most annoying when they need other people to make them look good. Don’t ever expect them to share the credit either, or you will be waiting till hell freezes over. Just when you think they are going to say what a great job you did, they will find a way to make it known that they helped you to do it better. I listened in amazement as someone took direct credit for a display and materials I had created. As my superiors gave him a special gift for “all of his hard work”, I vowed to never help the attention grabbers in life take that kind of advantage of me again.
You’ll know the Attention Grabber when you get hit with their arrows. There is a lot of talk and very little actual work. They have no actual friends, only usable people. People who were their friends tend to avoid them after being burned so many times.
I’ve tried turning it around on them, but if they are very proficient at their game, they can slam you down in a heart beat. I’ve learned to wait them out. When I see one coming, I take a deep breath and try to keep too busy to play their game.
They all eventually crash and burn. When pressed to do real work once too often, they often quit. I worked with one who gave notice and told our boss not to tell anyone. He sat at a special luncheon for over three hours with all of his colleagues and said hardy a word. (That’s one sign they are not getting enough attention.) He didn’t know that our boss was so thrilled that he was actually leaving; she had broken protocol and told me. I watched him sit in anger that day. Oh happy day, he had nothing to say for once. I enjoyed watching him act like a martyr that day. It was my day of retribution for being walked all over. All of the hard work that I had done on projects, that he had insinuated were his idea and had gotten credit for where over.
