Successful Princess Management

Date: 19 June 2015

Time: 10:45am to 11:45am

David Bryant

Human Resources and Membership Services Manager

Master Plumbers’ Association of Queensland

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How to increase workplace productivity through successful

princess management

PRINCESS

PARKING

ONLY

ALL OTHERS

WILL BE TOAD

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Overview • Why princess management?

• Because its what I do, day in and day out.

Everywhere I have ever worked.

• But princesses can be the hardest bunch

of individuals to manage because you

need to find the “root cause”.

• And most often, its you! (Sorry!!!!)

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Are You A Princess?

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Some Princess Statistics • 48% of workplaces have a workplace

princess.

• 48% of workplace princesses expect special treatment from their employers.

• 47% of workplace princesses express the belief that they are treated unfairly at work.

• 35% of workplace princesses make other people do their work for them.

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Core Princess Statistic

• 16% of workplace princesses are men!

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But wait…. there’s more.

• 21% of workplaces have a queen bee

• 18% of workplaces have a self-appointed

king

• 34% of workplaces have a joker

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So the questions are:

(1) Why are they allowed to?

(2) Who’s doing all the damn work?

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So what does a Princess do?

• A princess is someone who is excessively

preoccupied with personal adequacy,

power, prestige and vanity.

• Generally, they have no comprehension to

be able to see the destructive damage they

are causing to themselves and others.

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A true princess: • Expects to be recognized as superior and

special, without superior accomplishments

• Expects constant attention, admiration

and positive reinforcement from others

• Envies others and believes others envy them

• Is preoccupied with thoughts and fantasies

of great success, enormous attractiveness,

power, intelligence

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A true princess also:

• Lacks the ability to empathize with the

feelings or desires of others

• Is arrogant in attitudes and behaviour

• Has expectations of special treatment that

are unrealistic

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And its only going to get better!

• Princesses know everything about everything

because they’re never questioned…… and

really spoiled.

• Generational millennials will bring to the

workplace a whole need breed of princesses.

Raised by parents who see their children as

“special” and “gifted” have led the children to

grow up believing they are entitled.

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Bambi Princess

• Bambi is the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed new hire.

• Fresh ideas, broad smiles and a practiced (rehearsed) professionalism.

• Eager to please, crave learning and attention, and relish new opportunities.

• Out to impress, but doomed to be thrown to the wolves. She will be spat out.

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Princess In Waiting

• PIW’s carry the torch for the brand.

• They proudly wear company shirts, and

adorn their desk with trophies, knickknacks

and photos of company events.

• Loyal, like a dog, and that’s how their

power base is made, and exploited.

• Doomed to be used by alphas.

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Alpha Princess • They love crushing competition and they

play the corporate game.

• They have elbows.

• They value access to, and learning from,

people their respect. But they have no

respect for people they do not admire.

• Their personality can make their truth the

truth in the company.

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Alpha Princess • They have an ego which must be stroked.

• They can be abrupt, rude and adopt the

“you’re either on my team or you are the

cleaner scrubbing the toilet” attitude.

• They don’t believe in second chances.

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Clique Princess • They know how to work the system.

• They are risk averse and aren’t looking to

change the world.

• But they are master manipulators.

• Their power comes from loyalty to alphas,

shared history or (more importantly) they

have dirt on people.

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Shoulder Pad Princess • These are solid team players.

• They like certainty and rules and they

avoid ambiguity.

• They are loyal, stay late, work hard and

deliver results.

• But they lack the networking skills and

elbows to move up.

• Always the runner up and naïve. #ACEBne15

Pineapple Princess • Ambitious and talented, but want balance

in life (think sweet and sour though).

• They are often the smiler and laugher in

the office.

• They create balance in the universe.

• They deliver results and earn genuine

respect and loyalty from their peers.

• They work best when work mission aligns

with their values. #ACEBne15

Pineapple Princess

• HOWEVER, they are demotivated when

success measures are unclear or they

don’t find a leader to “bounce off”.

• Sweet to the face, sour behind the back,

and toxic (one bad apple syndrome)

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Toddlers and Tiara Princesses

• Temper tantrums, like to get their own

way, and they feel free to abuse anyone

who thwarts their desires.

• You find them most often as immature

high-level male managers who believe

that power gives them the right to treat

people any way they like.

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Wand Envy Princess

• Unhealthy competitors, always looking to

have the biggest and best story, even if

the truth doesn’t come into it.

• They feed on your scepticism, and love

nothing better than one-up-man-ship.

• Usually compensating for something!

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Bitter Pill Princess

• Think of the troll under the bridge (in the

general scheme of things – haven’t they

heard of a nice blue rinse, or even a comb).

• You are entering the world of pure office

politics. Everything has a price – if you

want information, or want something done,

you have to pay.

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Nice Enough, But Princess • The catch phrase of “Got a minute?”.

• They show up at your desk, interrupting

your day and derail your train of thought.

• Their interruptions are usually trivial and

largely irrelevant, and almost always ill-

timed.

• Why do they do it? They are lonely.

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Party Princess • These people waste an extraordinary

amount of time chatting with co-workers and keeping up to date with the personal lives of everyone in the office.

• They are great at planning company events and celebrations, but everything else becomes all too hard.

• For them, work is all about interaction, stress relief, distraction from work and socialisation.

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OMG Princess • These are the ones that work 80 hour

weeks and never miss an opportunity to

tell people of it.

• Strangely, though, they seem to

accomplish less than others working half

the hours.

• They will waste time during the day so that

they can prove how hard they are working

by sending you an email at 10:45pm. #ACEBne15

So how do we deal with Princesses?

• Always remember that the princess

has got to want to change. You can’t

make the change for them.

• Your role is to force that change!

• Values are the key!!!!!!

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So how do we manage Princesses? • Swiftly and with style

• Step 1 – Define the behaviour you want to see in the office.

• Step 2 – Lead by example.

• Step 3 – Make your expectations open and public.

• Step 4 – Use public acknowledgement (recognition or humiliation)

• Step 5 – Ensure there is no escape!

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