How To Deal With Your Office Kanye

Are you working with your very own Kanye West? Someone who steals the limelight and is inappropriate at just the wrong time? Or perhaps you’ve got a shade of Kanye in your own responses to colleagues — without even realising it. LinkedIn Influencers considered these topics this week. Here’s what two of them had to say.

Jack Stahlmann, professional speaker and head of Don’t Flinch LLC

Once again, Kanye West created a stir at an awards show. This time by protesting musician Beck as the album of the year recipient at the Grammy’s, much like he did to singer Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Music Awards. “His actions at the time even prompted President Obama to call him a “jackarse” (or a non-workplace-appropriate variation of that),” wrote Stahlmann in his post What if Kanye was Your Co-Worker? “His consistently poor behaviour got me thinking that many offices have a Kanye of some sort.”

If you think these people are impossible to handle, Stahlmann offers “six-and-a-half ways to deal with your office Kanye.” Among them:

“Listen. Easier said than done, I know, but think about what your office Kanye wants: attention. So give it to him and hear him out,” he wrote. You’ll be giving your colleague “the proverbial hug he so desperately wants” and allow him to blow off steam, Stahlmann added.

“Find the talent through the BS. During your listening session, make sure you are recognising that your office Kanye does bring value to the office,” he wrote. “Truly analyse and praise the results while addressing the opportunities for interpersonal growth.”

“Don’t ignore the problem. Kanye acts like he does because nobody stops him,” Stahlmann wrote. Recognise “early in the process when a talented employee is turning into your office Kanye. All big problems start with a little problem.”

“Find common ground. This is where Beck was a …pro.  When Beck was asked about Kanye implying that he wasn’t really an artist, he took the high road. Rather than getting into a verbal back and forth (which is what my instincts would have told me to do) he turned the issue into a positive by praising Kanye’s work as an artist,” Stahlmann wrote. “Oh, did I mention that he was having this conversation with a Grammy in each hand?”

Richard Moran, president at Menlo College

An early mentor gave Moran a bit of advice he has not forgotten. “The word ‘whatever’ should never, ever be used. It is a throwaway word. Anyone who hears you say it thinks you don’t give a hoot about any decision that needs to be made,” Moran wrote in his post Never Ever say “Whatever”.

“The problem is not the word itself. The problem is that any time the word is used it means you are not making a choice — and life is all about small choices,” Moran wrote. “Seemingly small decisions are a part of each and every workday, and it is easy to ignore them. When the word “whatever” is used as a reply, you are simply not making a decision. “

“It took me a while to realise that, however important to a life, the really big decisions are few,” he wrote. So, small decisions take on more importance than one might think. “When it comes to all the smaller ones, don’t defer, don’t say whatever. Never ever.”

Here’s what people perceive when you use the word “whatever,” according to Moran.

“I don’t care.

You make the decision for me; I will blame you later.

If I knew the answer, I would tell you. So leave me alone.

I am not listening.

Of all the options presented, none are good, but I will make you suffer with my ambivalence.

I am really [irritated] and will hold you responsible for the decision you make for me.

I don’t have an opinion so I will fill the air with this useless word.

I am resigned to being a victim.”

Instead of conveying these things, Moran wrote, “Be all in. It makes a difference in your career and your life.”