I’m a worker, in fact i’m so tired right now it’s pitiful. (Florist – Valentines day – insanity)  We have a sign in the design room about soaring with the eagles or quacking like a duck. I will admit to some whining about all the fraud and unfairness in this world but am realistic to know it’s pointless.  I honestly have no desire to be a warrior either. Just let me work please

@deairby I do believe there are different personalities in business and specially when selling we would be foolish to treat them all the same way.Outgoing socializers, cheer leaders, those who read everything and more.. But whiners and weasels???? Now that sounds like it was written by someone whose personality is to  consider themselves quite superior. Yes, I have met a handful of real whiners and major weasels but they are a slim slim minority. I have not read this book, nor would I want to!

This may sound corny and maybe it is the psychologist in me that is influenced here…..but I think we all have great things to contribute and we all largely want to do a good job. To that end – I guess I am a little wary of what I have just read about Tim O’Leary’s classification - as it seems so negative. I have not read it in any detail though so I may be off beam here. 
Of course if you have people on your team that are unhappy – they can be toxic to the team. Usually people are unhappy (whiners) because their needs are not being met at some level. It is more useful to try to figure out what is missing and if the situation can be turned around than it is to give them a negative label. I don’t see how that can help…..

@ Dea Irby

For me, I’m sorry to say this sounds like “pigeon holing” and that is a premise I am uncomfortable with. 

Think of children. How they are relegated to ‘types’ in grade school and how that follows them through out their educational lives. It is patently unfair to have one person deciding how to direct another persons life. 

Educational or business – doesn’t matter. We do tend to categorize people but is that fair? It all comes down to judging someone, whether it’s on their merits, work ethic, personality clash, jealousy and so on.  

Having said that, as adults, we can see that outgoing, sometimes boisterous people make better salesmen than accountants. But is that really true? I don’t know as I personally know some soft spoken, mild mannered people who are at the top of the salesman ladder. So, I don’t know.

Probably a good book you’ve mentioned and worth reading too. It’s the whole idea of sitting around a table and deciding someone else’s future based on personality traits.  I just don’t think it’s a fair way to JUDGE people.

.02  :)

Most of us can probably think of co-workers and business associates we’d term “whiners” or “weasels,” but I doubt anyone would characterize him or herself as a “whiner” or a “weasel.” 

Where do they come up with this stuff?