Working with high strong type personalities and complainers

techie2018

So I interviewed this guy for a position on my team as a senior network engineer. From a technical standpoint he seems solid. I don't really have any major concerns there.

I'm far more concerned about his personality and how he will fit in with the team. In short everybody on our team is laid back and don't look for drama. Well this guy seems to be quite the opposite. He seems like the type of person that whines and complains all the time. He seems like the type of dude that isn't happy unless he is drinking from a fire hose. Anybody know what I'm talking about and is familiar with that type of person? We had a similar type dude before on our team. He was a very annoying guy to work with. He wasn't happy unless he had something or more importantly someone to ***** about. He would find problems where there weren't any. He loved to point fingers at different teams and groups. Well our team isn't really like that. Yes we realize there are others teams and individual that aren't great at there job or probably not as dedicated as you'd like. Having said that we'd made our complaints known to the managers and moved on. We've found ways to work around those individuals. It's not something we worry about over day in and day out.

This guy accused us of "not caring" because we don't whine and point fingers. Needless to say he left. This guy wanted to fight with other teams. And we really aren't the team or company for that.

Anybody know this type of dude or worked with someone like this? How did this person fit on the team? Would you want a guy like this on your team?

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Comments

d4nz1g

seems like he would not fit your team that well...whining and pointing fingers only make the culture/work environment toxic. thats bad for everyone.

boxerboy1168

Does your post qualify as whining within the definition of whining that he was allegedly doing?

Not trying to be a prick but I am just pointing out that different perspectives see things differently. As someone who helps manage a small construction I find that competition if managed effectively can be healthy for production as well as company culture.

tedjames

I've worked with those types. Everyone's wrong but them. And you're a f---in' idiot if you don't see things their way. They get upset because you're not upset about the same things they're upset about. And then they run to mom & dad (HR) when they don't get their way. Avoid!

DatabaseHead

Sounds like a guy I would like on my team. But.... At least you are wise enough to make the determination that he wouldn't fit the culture. Look no further.

Personally for me I like these guys, if managed well they delivery in a big way.... Assuming we are thinking of the same guy.

Blucodex

Sounds like someone who ends up in a dumpster after running their mouth.

EANx

As you see, more important than skill level is how the person would gel with the team. I've worked with people whose idea of a discussion was a loud "you're wrong" with a finger jabbed to the chest. Functionally, there's nothing wrong with that attitude type but it doesn't gel well with people who like to collaborate on solutions. Teams generally need collaborators while soloists can be the hard-charging egoists because they tend to drive themselves forward.

ITHokie

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Sounds like a guy I would like on my team. But.... At least you are wise enough to make the determination that he wouldn't fit the culture. Look no further.

Personally for me I like these guys, if managed well they delivery in a big way.... Assuming we are thinking of the same guy.

Yep. As with most things, it's difficult to give a definitive answer without a lot more information, but my (similar) observation is that many of these types can be great weapons if they are engaged and managed well. Of course, some are too poisonous to have on a good team.

Determining whether they are (or can be) an All-Star or an HR disaster can be a challenge. If you can, bounce your thoughts off someone you trust. Talk to your high performers (if corporate culture allows).

yoba222

How do you know he's just like the other guy all from the one interview? Were there that many first impression red flags?

techfiend

I have some of these characteristics. I dislike drama and don't try to point undeserved fingers. If I see something in a team that's a (potential) issue I'll point it out. I'm also not really a 'yes guy' if management asks me to do something unreasonable or not well thought out I'm not afraid to share my opinion. This has both helped and hurt me in my career but it's who I am and need compatible management, which is tough to find, especially in the mecca of passive aggressiveness.

I don't consider myself a generally real smart person but like most I have aptitudes in certain areas. I wish more management would consider this Steve Jobs' quote: "It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do."

In my opinion the only thing worse than working for a technically knowledgeable manager that thinks they know everything is working for an unknowledgeable manager who thinks they know everything. I've worked for both.

I think every team should have at least 1 type A personality, preferably in management, as they can be great, overachieving leaders.

DatabaseHead

I've always favored talent over personality....... I felt my team could always pull out big wins with talent. Personality was always good at making excuses and getting the stakeholders to buy into it, but never delivered on the tougher projects.

Ideally you want both, but those folks don't last long.....

LeBroke

You need a balance. In general, I'd take a good personality with average tech skills over a Rick (from Rick and Morty), or Roy (from IT Crowd) personality with amazing tech skills. Unfortunately, the latter are all too common in IT.

IT is for the most part a customer service oriented role, no matter where or how high up you are.

In helpdesk, your job is to help other employees do their jobs, not fix computers.

As a sysadmin, your job is to facilitate company information transactions and maintain data security/integrity, not configure servers.

As a director, your job is to manage projects or set the overall direction for technology-related projects to help the company do its business more efficiently.

A nice sysadmin that takes twice as long to do something will often be more effective at his job than a smart sysadmin that's a pain to be around. The first guy will be friends with people in all the departments, will have manager buy in, be respected by co-workers, and if he needs something from other teams, he'll usually get it.

The second guy will just piss everyone off, especially if he's more Dwight Schrute like.

PSA: don't search "**** guy at the office" when you can't remember Dwight's name.

UnixGuy

I know this type all too well...

1) If you are in a hiring position - DO NOT hire this person. Good people in your team will leave because of this person.

2) This type of character are more stupid than they think. They generally aren't aware of their shortcoming.

3) They're a failure on a personal level outside work, so they bring their toxicity to work. You can't win with them, and again this will cost you good people in your team. Many talented well-mannered individuals don't see a point in putting up with this kind of character and will simply leave and go to a more professional environment.

TL;DR Very toxic character that will drive good people to resign. Don't bother.

Blucodex

UnixGuy wrote: »

I know this type all too well...

1) If you are in a hiring position - DO NOT hire this person. Good people in your team will leave because of this person.

2) This type of character are more stupid than they think. They generally aren't aware of their shortcoming.

3) They're a failure on a personal level outside work, so they bring their toxicity to work. You can't win with them, and again this will cost you good people in your team. Many talented well-mannered individuals don't see a point in putting up with this kind of character and will simply leave and go to a more professional environment.

TL;DR Very toxic character that will drive good people to resign. Don't bother.

I agree on everything you said. My last job had this guy. Thought he was God's gift. He was a very good sysadmin and decent at networking. But he was not elite at either. He loved to demean everyone else's ideas and take all projects when possible because he would "do it right". All he really did was stunt the growth of the rest of the team and others wouldn't even approach him. Other departments hated him. The self appointed "king of this castle". Our boss begged me to file an HR complaint because he wants him gone but is in a tough spot with the guys knowledge of the system, I was reluctant to but did anyway and it was a waste of time... Plus my boss didn't exactly get my back as I expected him too.

I almost choked him at work for running his mouth about my fiance. Decided not to thankfully. After 10 months as the new guy I landed what's at this time my dream job and I am making more too. Learning from some of the brightest in the local security arena.

Looking back I cannot imagine working at a place like that and now I have the confidence to walk if I ever need to. Life is too short to deal with jerks.

UnixGuy

Blucodex wrote: »

... He was a very good sysadmin and decent at networking. But he was not elite at either. He loved to demean everyone else's ideas and take all projects when possible because he would "do it right".....

Usually this type aren't even good at what they do, but let's assume they were 'elite' (whatever that mean really); it's not an excuse to be disrespectful to people. It's not an excuse for lack of communication skills.

Being bad mannered and behaving in an unprofessional way is an indication of lack of intelligence or in a layman terms it's indication that they're dumb and didn't learn how to deal with people nor take feedback with regards to their behavior. Sad to see but they exist, and whenever I'm in a management/lead position I give them no leeway to run their mouth, you'd be surprised how easy it is to scare them into behaving well. Sad but it exists a lot in IT unfortunately.

Blucodex

UnixGuy wrote: »

Usually this type aren't even good at what they do, but let's assume they were 'elite' (whatever that mean really); it's not an excuse to be disrespectful to people. It's not an excuse for lack of communication skills.

Being bad mannered and behaving in an unprofessional way is an indication of lack of intelligence or in a layman terms it's indication that they're dumb and didn't learn how to deal with people nor take feedback with regards to their behavior. Sad to see but they exist, and whenever I'm in a management/lead position I give them no leeway to run their mouth, you'd be surprised how easy it is to scare them into behaving well. Sad but it exists a lot in IT unfortunately.

Definitely not okay to be a dirtbag no matter your skill level. I don't understand that mentality--I always am more than happy to assist new guys.