Top Four Reasons Why Negative Coworkers Suck

1) Negative coworkers are always complaining: Doesn’t matter whether they are having a good day, or a bad day. They will find a reason to complain. Case in point: My coworker made a ton of sales the other day. You know what he did after his last customer left? He complained about how busy he was! “Are you kidding me,” I said. “Be glad you were busy. That means you made money.”

2) Misery loves company: Boy, oh boy. For whatever reasons, negative people love to get you on their side and love it when you begin complaining with them. It’s not enough for them to come to you when you’re all minding your business and happy, getting your work load taken care of. They gotta come to your office/cube and bring that damn angry gray cloud.

3) They like to get in your head and sabotage your game: I don’t know about your profession, but I work in sales, and I swear the most negative people in this industry are negative gripers for a reason. It’s to steal your sales. How do they accomplish this? Well, if you aren’t naturally negative or a complainer, they will get in your head and make you negative. They’ll complain about the company and everything under the sun. Then, when you become negative, you’re less productive. That person who got you all in a funk will then make a move to swoop in and take your sales. (The way to combat this is to ask them one question. Say, “If things are so bad, why are you still working here?” That shuts them down every time.)

4) Negative Nancy ain’t going anywhere: These people never go anywhere. They don’t advance up the ladder at the job, but they don’t ever quit either. They love where the position, because they’re usually successful. The thing is they don’t want anyone else to be successful. They’d rather complain about their position and try to hold you back.

My advice? Stay away from these energy vampires. They mean you no good. It’s tough to beat them, so most of us end up joining them. Try not to get sucked in.

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