How to Handle the Haters

By Maura Gergerich, Toppel Peer Advisor

It’s just a fact of life that not everyone you interact with will like you. If this isn’t the case then you haven’t made enough decisions in your life. Leaders are constantly forced to make decisions like firing people or changing a policy that will make people upset, but what makes good leaders is that they choose the right option rather than the easy one. The key to this is also learning how to deal with these people.

Accept that you can’t please everyone

This is of course easier said than done, but trying to please everybody will either end up angering everyone instead or driving you insane. So just stick with what you think is right and people will respect your ability to stand tall in the face of adversity.

Keep an eye on your enemies

Everyone has heard the idea of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. It’s way easier to protect yourself from being backstabbed if you don’t turn your back.

Laugh it off

The best way to dealing with slander towards you is to have a sense of humor about it. Not only will this make you feel better, it will also make your peers respect you for not throwing self-pity parties.

Forgive and forget

One of the strongest things a person can do is forgive someone. It shows that you are the bigger person. And you never know, that person may end up changing their ideas and be a wonderful asset to you. Holding grudges is too much energy to waste on so little outcome.

The 3-D Approach to Management

By Kiernan King, Toppel Peer Advisor

Is your work environment not running as smoothly as you’d hope? If you’re trying to find the wrench in your office’s community building scheme, try applying the three dimensional approach to management and see if you can find the problem!

According to political science scholars, management can be broken down into a three-dimensional approach – structure, culture and craft. Structure is defined as the rules and policies that govern an organization. Culture is the ideas, attitudes, opinions and beliefs of a community. Craft can be viewed as the methods and strategies any leader such as a CEO can use to motivate employees and encourage hard work. All are interdependent, and a change or modification in one aspect can cause a change in the other. 

How Structure affects Culture:

Let’s say your supervisor makes a rule that only closed toed shoes can be worn in the office. The Culture in the office may be modified so that everyone hopefully believes that professional dress will help contribute to the professional work environment and not wear flip flops.

How Culture affects Craft:

Let’s say the office is overflowing with enthusiastic employees who are excited to be at work and eager to help others. A supervisor may establish a friendly competition among the staff where whoever advises the most students during walk-in hours receives a prize at the end of the month. This could help motivate their employees to continue working hard and not settling for anything less than his or her best.

How Craft affects Structure:

Let’s say your supervisor thinks productivity levels would increase if he allowed employees to go home early if all of their work was finished for the day. If he noticed that employees reacted positively to this idea, he could decide to make it a permanent rule within the office.

If you notice that the general attitude in the office is negative, as the supervisor try implementing new policies to change it. If you’re unhappy with how your supervisor is running things, perhaps suggest something in which his perspective on certain policies can change to ultimately better the workplace as a whole. Happy employees make clients happy!