This is not about being a “tool” in the utilitarian sense. This is for all the other kinds – as The Urban Dictionary says:
A person, typically male, who says or does things that cause you to give them a ‘what-are-you-even-doing-here’ look. The ‘what-are-you-even-doing-here’ look is classified by a glare in the tool’s direction and is usually accompanied by muttering of how big of a tool they are.
As a public service, here are ten ways I’ve found one can earn that classification from just about everyone in business. And yes, it was prompted by someone’s specific behavior recently but I’m not enough of a tool to ID them.
So without further ado:
- Show up late for meetings and insist others recap everything that happened so far
- While in the aforementioned meeting, keep emailing and messaging instead of participating
- Deliver bad news via email instead of in person or via telephone.
- Over-promise, under-deliver
- Demand (instead of earn) respect
- Treat everyone as interchangeable, replaceable parts in your business machine
- Prove you’re the smartest person in the room by telling everyone
- Deliver more excuses than you do apologies
- Ignore pre-meeting documents (you’re far too busy to read them) and waste everyone’s time while you catch up
- Talk way more than you listen
I’m sure you can add 1 or 5 or 10 more – feel free to use the comments. I’ve vented – your turn.
Consult Keith 