Have you ever had to work alongside someone who lies, cheats, and always takes credit for other people’s ideas? Here’s the way to recognise and avoid the top three types of workplace offenders.
Villainous Andro (Power Hungry Worker)
One of the key struggles in the workplace is the desire for power and position. Enter the power-hungry Villainous Andro! She might have been born a woman and dresses as a woman, but there is nothing feminine about her, no softness, no nurturing side, and very little creativity or thoughtfulness. Instead, the Villainous Andro is ruthless, operating almost entirely from her inner masculine essence. She has forsaken her inner feminine side long ago, just another casualty of her relentless drive to get ahead. She will be smiling but watch out. Behind her façade, she is cunning and manipulative, excellent at networking and at office politics. She will select the most advantageous person in the company and then eliminate all competitors in her way. She’ll then ride on coattails all the way to the top, while the person wearing the coat is usually blissfully unaware of how he or she is being played. In the wake of a Villainous Andro are the many men and women she just stepped on. So if you see too many good people leaving in droves from a workplace, look to the boss. I bet you’ll find a Villainous Andro, still standing, still smiling, and still making excuses as to why those employees were no good anyway.
Pseudo Masculine Man (The Flatterer)
Another toxic archetype to keep an eye on is the Pseudo Masculine Man. He was born a man and dresses as a man, but he is operating almost exclusively from his inner feminine essence, to the exclusion of his masculine side. In the workplace, he craves position, power and authority over others. But because he is not usually particularly talented, he relies on ‘street smarts’ to get where he’s going. He is a masterful flatterer but don’t be taken in. You’ll know him because he just doesn’t get anything done himself; it’s all talk and show. Underneath his dapper appearance, the Pseudo Masculine Man both fears and envies truly ‘masculine’ men, so he prefers instead to surround himself with masculine-oriented women, the Good Doers of the workplace. Good Doers are women who have a healthy balance of their feminine and masculine energies, and they are highly capable. They serve his purposes because they will do his work for him.
Faux Feminine Woman (The Lazy Worker)
The third archetype to avoid is the Faux Feminine Woman. She arrives at work well dressed, but she is only there to find someone to work for her. Extremely self-centered, she is on the hunt for an eligible colleague to make her permanent slave. So while she might work for an Executive Director or CEO right now, it is really her intention to direct him into her lair. Men in particular: if you see her coming: run, don’t walk!
ABOUT THE WRITER: Jennifer Granger worked as a corporate insider on four continents over a 20 year period before becoming a transformational coach. Living now in Melbourne, Australia, she is the author of a new ground-breaking book, “Feminine Lost: Why Most Women are Male”. Her book discusses the sorry state of relationships between men and women in the boardrooms and bedrooms around the world, and she explains how finding one’s own correct balance of internal energies creates a better life at work and at home.
