Drama queen-itis

I have a flair for the dramatic that I have to rein in. No, I’m not theatrical, I’m a drama queen waiting to happen.

I realised it (again) as I walked to the bathroom last night.

I felt a stabbing pain in my head. Instantly, instead of thinking “paracetamol”, I thought “brain tumor”, which led quickly to: What my little girl would do without a mother; should my husband remarry (I decided yes); how would I make sure he knew to remarry and on and on.

Now, I’m a (mostly) reformed drama queen. I keep these mental outbursts to myself, barring short confessions like the one I’m making to you now. Unchecked – drama queen-itis can be a menace.

Now ladies, all of you have at least one girlfriend who brings the drama with her wherever she goes. You’ve probably learned to deal with it on a friendship level. What I want to talk about today is the drama queen in the workplace.

He’s the one (oh yes – they can be male!) who doesn’t just have a cold, they have the plague.

She’s the one who isn’t driving calmly somewhere, she’s got to go immediately because it’s an emergency.

They’re the one whose relationship is always on the brink of disaster (although their partner typically doesn’t know anything’s wrong).

It’s the employee who always has the client who makes her life impossible and absolutely cannot be reasoned with.

In short, they create chaos where there doesn’t need to be.

What to do if (like me) you have drama queen tendencies? Go back and read the children’s fable The Boy who Cried Wolf.

What to do if you work with a drama queen? Get a salt shaker, pop it on your desk and either learn to take everything they say with a grain of said salt or reconsider and find yourself an employee (if you’re the boss) who you know is grounded, reliable and speaks the drama-free truth.

Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27: If I Can do it Anyone Can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started her first business at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21.

Now Kirsty does lots of fun things which you can read about here. Her favourite current projects are Elephant Property, a boutique property management agency, Baby Teresa, a baby clothing line that donates an outfit to a baby in need for each one they sell and ReallySold, which helps real estate agents stop writing boring, uninteresting ads.