High Maintenance Folk

When Harry met Sally, he told her that she was "high maintenance." It wasn't meant as a compliment.

There are certain people that seem to take more work than others when it comes to relating and connecting with them.

In Les Parrott III's book, High Maintenance Relationships, he identifies various types of people who likely will cause conflict with others. Here is a list of 15 of those types:

• The Critic - Constantly complains and gives unwanted advice.
• The Martyr - Forever the victim and wracked with self-pity.
• The Wet Blanket - Pessimistic and automatically negative.
• The Steam Roller - Blindly insensitive to others.
• The Gossip - Spreads rumors and leaks secrets.
• The Control Freak - Unable to let go and let be.
• The Back Stabber - Irrepressibly two-faced.
• The Cold Shoulder - Disengages and avoids contact
• The Green-Eyed Monster - Seethes with envy.
• The Volcano - Builds steam and is ready to erupt.
• The Sponge - Constantly in need but gives nothing back.
• The Competitor - Keeps track of tit of tat.
• The Workhorse - Always pushes and is never satisfied.
• The Flirt - Imparts innuendos, which may border on harassment.
• The Chameleon - Eager to please and avoids conflict.

I would caution the student leader, whom upon reading through this list, begins to match others with the various categories. It would be wiser to first look at the list and figure out where one might be located. 

Sometimes the most difficult people to work with can be ourselves.

Comments

[Tom]

First off...I like the new look of the website. Way to stay fresh. 2nd, after reading through the list of different types of people who might cause conflict I see myself identifying with 2 of them. The two I relate well with are the competitor and the chameleon. I have such a competitive nature that often I find myself competing with others on my team instead of working with them, especially with other competitors. The chameleon in me wants to please everybody. Sometimes that is not possible (probably more often than not) but I always try. This was a good exercise to spot some of the personality traits that can be harmful to the success of the team, but if harnessed correctly can be used to enhance the team.