Avoiding the Troll

We spend far too much time exhausted from the effects of Trolls in our life. We are not talking about the Troll under the bridge, however, the analogy is really the same. Trolls, as I will define, are those that like to suck the life out of you in attempts to A. Feel better about their unhappiness, or B. Feel better about their unhappiness. No mistake there, it is always their intent! It is the Troll's primary directive in life to make those around them miserable, constantly criticizing and determined to make life, and in this case, work, more difficult than it should be. they offer little in the way of support, and unless you are feeding their ego or paying a toll extracted through intimidation, they have little to offer. Now, you might ask, why do we become involved with Trolls at all? A complicated question... We typically find that Trolls can be engaging, almost charismatic, upon meeting them. They might lure you with some sort of carrot often times followed by a large stick to the butt. Beware of falling into their traps. They love to take advantage of you, covering you in negative energy disguised as helpful advice that really only serves their purpose, which as we stated, is to elevate their temporary elation over their self by beating you into submission.

Being involved in a small business for the last 13 years that has seen it's fair share of ups and downs, I have come to learn one key thing during my tenure - Trolls come in many different forms, use many different tactics, and always consider themselves the smartest in the room. Where they tend to realize the err in their ways is when they are found out and challenged, and even realize they might not be as clever as they thought, and beyond that, realize they are damaging the business more than they realized through the use of their intimidation tactics.

I would recommend anyone involved in any business be mindful of those around you. Are they the support team you need, or the weight that drags you down? Do they value recruiting intelligent help, or do they prefer the downtrodden that they can manipulate to feel better about themselves? It is often times not very apparent at first, but if you ever feel as though you are in this kind of relationship at work, stop. It is not worth the emotional stress you are under. Step back and take inventory of what is good for you, and make a move or remove the Troll from your life.

This article inspired my diatribe this morning:

http://99u.com/articles/25151/dont-feed-the-haters-the-confessions-of-a-former-troll