No matter what type of work you manage, you don't have the luxury to act like you're always tired or depressed. Most of us know that the better the attitude you and your employees have, the higher the altitude you'll climb; and your business or department will soar.
One key thing a great manager must do is to be on the lookout for those who exist to sap all the life and energy out of you and your employees.
These are the energy vampires who attempt to control everyone and everything around them by trying to keep everything negative and down. "They not only want to clip your wings, they want to keep you grounded. That is their mission. They don’t wait until midnight to come out. These are Emotional Vampires. They do their work by daylight!"
The types of workers that do this are absorbed in themselves and live as if they are the center of the universe and that all things and people are to revolve around them. They are insatiable in this believe and will never stop living like this. They are more dangerous to the health of your team than you could imagine.
The concept of empathy doesn't exist in their life or vocabulary. Their theme song comes straight from “Peter Pan,” “I’ll Never Grow Up. I’ll Never Grow Up!” They see themselves as victims. Alan Cohen, the author of “Why Your Life Sucks & What To Do about It,” describes them this way, “Victims are volunteers.”
“They walk around with a big invisible vacuum cleaner drawing protoplasm from all who enter their domain; show up and you will be consumed. You set out to be the savior, but end up as Jonah the dinner.” I repeat, “victims are volunteers.”
Look for them in every potential hire to weed them out before you have a catastrophe on your hands. I've seen more great employees leave a business because the "vampire' isn't dealt with. If they do get past your interviewing process and are hired, you're in for a baby sitting job, as you can't just let them 'float' around your business devouring everything in their paths.
One way to deal with them, if they are in the fold, is to separate them to do jobs or responsibilities that keep them pretty much separate from or to busy to spread their poison. Someone like this will probably eventually leave as they live to eat away at everything around them, and if their contact is limited, it takes away those opportunities and many times they'll go elsewhere.
How have you dealt with these types of employees? How did you handle it?
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