Top 3 Archetypes to Avoid in the Workplace

By Jennifer Granger

Finding talented people with true leadership skills is a difficult task. For a workplace to be dynamic, productive and satisfying, it needs leaders who have that extra ‘something’ that cannot be taught.

Even more importantly, the modern workplace needs leaders who can weed out the types of employees that impede the productivity and satisfaction of others. Imagine the benefits of selecting out negative employees so they can no longer wreak their havoc!

Here’s a novel approach. It’s based on an age-old theory that each human being has both feminine and masculine energy inside them. When you analyze how a certain person uses their two internal energies, it illustrates clearly how they will operate in the real world. Throughout my career in corporate life and then as a transformational coach during the past 14 years, I have identified several detrimental archetypes in today’s world. Here’s how to identify them so you can avoid them.

The Villainous Andro

One of the most power hungry players in this game is a woman I call the Villainous Andro. This archetype has lost complete touch with her internal feminine side and she is almost exclusively masculine in her approach to work and life. She is as ambitious as she is ruthless and if you get in her way, you will feel her wrath.

The Villainous Andro is a strong archetype, used to being in control, so her behavior is not easy to reprimand. You see, she is cunningly manipulative and you would be well served to watch her closely if she is in your sphere of influence. She will stop at nothing to get where she is going.

How can you spot her? It’s not always easy because her skilled politics and her extensive networks can disguise her. She often has ingratiating ways that could seduce a snake charmer’s cobra. She has quite likely risen to the upper echelons of management by riding the coat-tails of someone else. She has a talent for spotting the most advantageous route to the top and usually the person wearing the coat is blissfully unaware of how he or she is being played.

Another tell-tale sign of the Villainous Andro is the collateral damage. She has a way of disabling other women in her environment and making men feel emasculated if they have to report to her.  So if you are noticing that too many of your fellow workers, female or male, are leaving in droves, look just above them and I bet you will find a Villainous Andro boss who broke their spirit until they left. Steer clear of her; she is a top archetype to avoid.

The Pseudo Masculine Man

Another one to watch out for is a man I term the Pseudo Masculine Man. The numbers of these types of men have exploded over the past few decades. They dress and look like men, but they are accessing far too much of their inner feminine essence and they simply get nothing actually done.

Ultimately this man is not a friend to women, especially women in the workplace. He is a masterful flatterer and he will try to allay your suspicions when you first meet him, but don’t be fooled. Be cautious and observe him for a while because this man is neither honorable nor trustworthy.

The Pseudo Masculine Man craves position, power and authority over others. He fears and envies truly masculine men, so he chooses instead to surround himself with hard-working ‘masculine-oriented’ women, the Good Doers of the workforce, who will ‘duel’ with each other for his attention. He can also rely on those women to do the work that he does not want to do or does not have the ability to do. Ultimately you will find that this man is lazy and arrogant and cannot be trusted to lead.

The Faux Feminine Woman

The last archetype to keep an eye out for is the Faux Feminine Woman. She will appear finely dressed, with beautiful hair, nails and accessories, but she is not coming to work for you, she is looking for someone to work for her

The Faux Feminine Woman is extremely self-centered and her agenda is to go to work to ensnare an eligible man whom she can make her permanent slave. She might work for the Managing Director but she fully intends to manage and direct him into her lair. We’ve all seen this archetype in action, and it is best to avoid her at all costs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Granger worked as a corporate insider on four continents over a 20 year period before becoming a transformational coach. Living now in Melbourne, Australia, she is the author of the new ground-breaking book, “Feminine Lost: Why Most Women are Male” (Weinstein Books, $19.99). Her book discusses the sorry state of relationships between men and women in bedrooms and boardrooms around the world, and she explains how finding one’s own correct balance of internal energies creates a better life at home and at work. For more information visit www.femininelost.com.

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