RTO - 5 Tips to Deal with The Gunners

Dread. RTO means having to deal in-person daily with The Gunners. Essentially they are the ones consumed by almost surreal ambition. That drive may or may not correlate with actual talent. But they figure out how to transcend any talent deficits with myriad strategies. Yes, they are busy bees. Often they do get ahead. But just as often they are sidelined. That could be because they are not likable. Typical is that they shoot themselves in the foot, eventually.

 

But what must concern you now that you are back in the office is that The Gunners are a reality. Here are 5 tips on how to manage The Gunners so that they don't derail your own career and cause yourself to become emotionally undone.

 

Don't compare. 

 

Of course, they are gaining career momentum. That's what they do. You might feel intimidated or that you, like them, should have conquered more territory in the organization. 

 

But you have no idea what is going on inside them. Their bravado persona rarely matches their insides. They could be suffering everything from insecurity to self-hate to the residue of childhood wounds to rage. Such drive is usually aberrant. 

 

Also you don't know where they will wind up. Business history is littered with The Gunners who crossed lines and never were able to come back. 

 

Classic is the fall of financial tycoon Leon Black. What was going on inside him that he risked it all through his associations with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the mistress Guzel Ganieva who sued hm. How could a seemingly smart man make such seemingly self-destructive choices?

 

I coached a former real estate lawyer who had owned his own firm. After embezzling from it, he did two years in prison. There he realized it was his overbearing father who had "made" him become a lawyer instead of a music professor. Emotionally he never came back. Financially - and that's why he entered coaching - he did establish an online business selling musical instruments.

 

Impose boundaries.

 

No, you don't have to socialize with them. Of course, initially you might open yourself to that. You assume they are necessary for a network. But usually there is a poor return on investment for that. At the very least they will suck up all the oxygen. At worst they will exploit you ruthlessly. What you do receive as "favors" you probably could have put together on your own. Yes, they can present themselves as mentors.

 

Establish a monitoring system

 

It is necessary to know what they are up to. That's for at least two reasons. One, you can learn much from how they gun. For example, in a public relations agency, they figure out how to get on the high-profile accounts which are platforms for promotions. And two, they could be undermining you. 

 

It is in the self-interest of a small number of your peers to track what they are doing, how they are doing it, with whom, where, and at what time. In this era we tend to distrust others in the workplace. You will have to convince colleagues this stealth cooperative effort is for the benefit of all. 

 

Document 

 

Their drive can be blinding. It tends, for instance, to make them underestimate others. That's how they could wind up in trouble long before, like Black, they had made it big. The odds are that you and your posse can catch them taking unethical shortcuts or even committing criminal acts. Maintain a log of all that, then consider presenting it to those in charge. 

 

Come into your own. 

 

The blockage in most careers is a lack of self-awareness. That's exactly why, as Reddit Jobs chronicles, students major in the wrong fields and work for years in jobs or running a business they don't like. If you find out who you are and who you are becoming you can discover your fit and unleash your unique talent. The Gunners won't get under your skin. They will pick up your indifference toward them and move on to playing havoc with someone else.

 

A tool for self-awareness, which The New York Times advocates, is doing Tarot readings either DIY or having a professional reading. Here is a guide for DIY. Yes, I provide Tarot spreads and one-card pulls.

 

The Gunner has to gun. It’s a compulsion. You don’t have to gun. You can simply do your job or run your business to the best of your ability. And derive joy in other parts of your life.

 

You may need to change jobs, careers, or from being a worker to entrepreneurship. You are not alone. So many are at a crossroads. Complimentary consultation for coaching, job-search materials, and interviewing. The menu of services includes Tarot readings, both spreads and one-card pulls. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579.