It has since been a long time I wrote about work. Recently, I have been trying to find a term to best describe one type of co-worker. I have noticed that this type of co-worker, even though part of the project team, did not perform any tasks throughout the project at all. He goes with the majority when the decisions are made and almost never take a stance of his own.
The consequence of having such a co-worker is that the others have to work more and harder to compensate in order to fill the gap.
I read about 4 types of people that are linked to one’s success. The 4 types are the leader, loafer, leech and lifter. The type of co-worker I describe above is termed as “The Leech”. A leech is basically a type of parasite that feeds on your blood. Similarly, this type of co-worker feeds on your blood.
How do you identify a leech in your workplace? Below are the characteristics you can observe in order to identify the Leech:
- They are unwilling to participate but over-willing to eat from your harvest of success.
- They make no sacrifices to achieve real success and offers no extraordinary value.
- They are often “yes-men” and “yes-woman”.
- They always side with the majority and never question authority.
- They never take a stance of their own.
- Their goal is to remain secure in order to keep their job.
- They steal opportunities before you.
People who are leeches can never be a catalyst of your success and may pose a threat to you. They steal opportunities and simply live off your success.
Stay away from leeches.
“You will move in the direction of the people that you associate with, so it’s important to associate with people that are better than yourself – Warren Buffett”
