“Dealing with” can mean a lot of things.

Sometimes “dealing with someone” means disposing of the body. Or it might refer to someone who suffers fools gladly, and thereby is someone to avoid. In this installment of Real Original Content, “dealing with people” refers to getting along with your coworkers, or else.

As you may have learned in my last post, I found a book, published in 1938, that taught employees the benefits of being agreeable at work. I love the book for all of its old-timey, completely inappropriate language. But the core message also captured my attention. It could have been written last week:

We might word it differently today

Rather than pinning success on having a “superior personality,” we might now say, “85% of success is due to good people skills, and washing your own dishes at work.” Either way, the message is the same: Be nice and easy to work with and you’ll move ahead. Rub people the wrong way and you’ll keep finding yourself shut out and looking for another job.

Hint: If it’s always someone else’s fault, or “office politics” are always to blame, that’s a pretty good indication your workplace social game needs some work. And if that’s the case…

This is totally the blog post for YOU!

Back in 1938, hiring decisions were based more on an applicant’s vocational skills—and gams, if you were a girl—than one’s people skills. Those didn’t surface until later.

Once on the job, you either turned out to be a “wonderful person” everyone loved working with and said so behind your back, or you were a pill and universally hated. Okay, that’s a little harsh. Maybe just “avoided at all costs” (because you were hated).

 

Survival in the workplace in 2018 can be just as savage as back in the day. That’s why it’s as important now than ever to know how to get along with the people you work with. Click the heads below to learn how!

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