Manage behaviour not personality says Genella Macintyre

Look around you. There are all sorts of people and personalities at play, some easier to get along with than others. It’s a bit like a tin of cookies - some people are sugary sweet, some are brittle, and some are soft on the inside but tough on the outside.

Genella Macintyre knows this well. She has encountered many different types of people, and specifically, managers, in her career. Most of them fall into a defined character type, that Genella compares to cookies in her latest book, "Soft Skills for Tough Cookies". 

Regardless of the type of manager (or cookie) that you’re dealing with, Genella suggests that we learn to focus on and change behaviors, rather than trying to change the person. In this episode of People at Work, Genella offers some suggestions for how to do this. 

Whether you’re a manager or not, Genella’s straight up advice will help you navigate up, down, and across your organization and the relationships you have there. Maybe you’ll see yourself in the cookie types Genella bakes up for us—but don’t be disheartened, there is a sweet side to every cookie, after all.