Power Play: Avoid the prophets of doom

The world is full of people who drag their unhappiness around with them wherever they go. And worse, they usually tend to be very unlucky.

Power Players never try to rehabilitate these people. They know these types have a terrible attitude and they will rarely change, always finding the dark cloud in a silver lining and infecting any room with their negative energy like a virus.

Power Players immediately sidestep these people and you should too. It isn’t your job to convince naysayers to come over to the bright side, nor is it your job to expend your energy propping up unhappy people who enjoy their pity party.

It’s only natural that from time to time we have a bad or sad day or lose our way, but what I’m talking about here are the toxic types who settle into their unhappy, unlucky rhythm and won’t budge. Identify them early and move them on. Power Players always do and it’s one of the best decisions they can ever make.

The story

I once worked with the unluckiest person I’ve ever met. Everything that could go wrong did – car accidents on the way to work, sprained ankles, bad break-ups with girlfriends, food poisoning and sunstroke.

It wasn’t until I spent some time with him that I realised why – he never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. If there was the potential for some fun to be had, he’d dampen the mood. If he was presented with a chance to make a new friend, he’d point out all their faults to them. He became a magnet for the bad stuff.

Learn from this guy and never go down this road.