Issue 43 - 2012

• BloodyMaryanyone?p.09Distinguishingprimadonnasfromchampions

VictorCalleja

• SituationalAnalysis:IntroducingChangep.25

AlfredDebattista

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B ut we are typecast in categories. There are the optimists and the

pessimists who can never agree on interpretation of fact: is a 2-litre container which has 1 litre of wine in it half full or half empty? While supposedly at work they take a few days discussing gravely and seriously what the proper description of the liquid is.

Then a realist friend arrives who asks them to forget the debate and head back to work. The two continue discussing the amount of content - one with a smile, the other in a growing bout of anger. The newly arrived realist harangues them to get back to their workplace. Out of the blue a sprightly young man comes in, gulps down all the wine and compliments all those present on how good the wine is. From the moment he drinks the wine he is now newly christened “the opportunist.” He also proceeds to join his colleagues at work in a rather jollier state than them.

Part of the scenario above was filched by me directly from the internet so

whoever owns the copyright I plead forgiveness and do not wish to take title from anyone. But the scenario has points worthy of reflection not only because of its optimist, realist, pessimist, opportunist stereotyping. It also says a lot about people who are petty; people who shirk work in seeking to get useless answers to their hardheadedness and people who drink at whatever time as long as it is a free drink. It also peeps at those who are also selfish and carefree. Selfish not just because they drink when others might want to take some of the wine themselves but also selfish in that the tipsiness could easily result in lack of concentration at work with some subsequent mishaps.

I’m sure we can all feel part of all the ones above - most people are sometimes pessimistic and sometimes selfish and sometimes so down-to-earth that they are kill-joys even in the most enthusiasm-inducing scenarios. We are amalgams of all the stereotypes above but some elements are stronger than others or we cover up our deficiencies - or have our attributes disguised by others - well.

From the little research I did about this amalgam of characteristics I concluded one thing definitely. In most cases we are like chameleons and we change our hue according to what there is around us - it is hard to put us into those straitjacketed pigeonholes and we are all slightly optimistic, pessimistic and also realistically or decidedly opportunistic. But one strand of characteristics is usually unique and rarely fluctuates.

People are either champions or primadonnas with the latter rarely ever turning into champions and vice versa.

People who are champions, who will work hard and be - as long as they are accepted and revered - proper champions for the brand accept that their loyalty is to the brand (which includes by inference the company that employs them and their fellow employees and employers). These are the real brand and company stalwarts. They might have defects like being cocky, demanding too much for their worth and carrying on rather too confidently. But their cockiness comes from the knowledge that they know their worth for the company and the brand because they believe in them and want them to prosper. Their ethos is not that they want to prosper themselves, regardless of the cost to the brand they represent.

Then there are the primadonnas.

These are the ones who have all the attributes and defects of the champions with one major differentiating aspect. Champions do it for the brand. Primadonnas do it for themselves.

And while champions might have cockiness which comes from their innate belief in themselves in service to the brand, the primadonnas just care for themselves and their cause, which overwhelms and overrides anything the brand stands for.

As with the optimist and pessimist scenario we all have a bit of the primadonna instinct - we all want to shine and if we are successful we love the limelight which burns bright

Bloody Mary anyone?Distinguishing primadonnas from championsVictor Calleja

The ExecutiveIssue No. 43 - 2012

Opinion

I don’t have a clue what Dr Freud or his other kinky analysts ever said about this but we humans can easily - or with the most difficulty - be classified into types. Maybe not as easily typecast as blood - type A, type B, type AB, or however Count Dracula keeps his vile vials in his castle for a bit of soul-refreshing drinking.

Then there are the

primadonnas

www.the-executive.biz The Executive 11

on us when we succeed and when we move up the ladder. But when reality bites the real champions will be seen championing the brand not the self while the real primadonnas will not retrace any steps and will only pay homage to their own prancing and self-idolatry.

For a short while primadonnas give you some, and sometimes a large, return - after all they have good attributes which unfortunately are then sacrificed at the altar of the self. The prancing, selfish persons who can be champions but are more interested in themselves end up turning their own attributes into defects and create more harm in the workforce. As their loyalty is to themselves no amount of training or mantra-chanting of team-building will change them.

They will, for a while, act differently and hide their true character - and they will prove their intrinsic worth by being super-efficient to make

everyone see their super-worth - but after a while their main defect resurfaces. And then to hell with their mask and with the brand. Now once the veneer is off the primadonnas show everyone who they really believe in - themselves.

Usually primadonnas act alone - like wolves out for their kill and satisfaction-- but are always prone to start whispering campaigns against certain colleagues, the company itself and especially the true champions of the company. To start with, till the real character of the primadonna is revealed, they are quite popular with everyone.

Primadonnas want it all for themselves so even their worth is lost because they will over-promise, over-sell their own worth and end up causing undue harm in companies, and this then has to be solved and fixed by the surrounding champions.

All this causes even more friction: the champion starts getting the proper

nods and praise from the superiors and colleagues start trusting more and more the true champion. The primadonnas start losing their grip on things as people see through them and the dreaded jealousy for the true champion kicks in.

Primadonnas in opera are feminine - this is wrong in that in companies and in life primadonnas can be male or female.

Both can be deadly and both, when encountered, should be given a one-way ticket to Transylvania where a count of dubious character, and terrible pallor, greets all-comers with a twinkle on his canines.

Victor Calleja has been involved in publishing, marketing, and anything concerning the written word, for over thirty years. He is now a part-time but very opinionated journalist who delves deeply into a number of subjects.

Issue No. 43 - 2012

The Executive Opinion