SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIPS
Surviving
Yo u r
Co-workers
Playing well—and patiently—with others
(despite their quirks) is more essential than
ever in this age of open-plan workspaces
By Dan Bova
W
ant to be successful? You have some op-
tions. A tempting one is to go the Steve Jobs
route and become a bazillionaire eccentric
genius (i.e., a maniac who makes everyone
around you miserable). The problem with that plan, however, is
that pesky word “genius,” which is harder to be than it sounds.
Another option to being successful, admittedly a notch or
two lower on the pay scale, is to be a likable human being who
works well with others. That is, not only to have the kind of
intelligence that helped you get an A in English even though
you slept through half the year, but also to have emotional in-
telligence that helps you understand the way people feel and
react and doesn’t make them take the stairs to the 30th floor
to avoid riding in an elevator with you.
“To achieve success, emotional intelligence cannot be un-
derestimated,” says Kathleen Griffith, founder of the media
company and digital learning platform Build Like a Woman
and founder of Grayce & Co., a marketing consultancy. “You’ve
got a ton of people coming out of business school with A’s and
really fancy degrees, but at the end of the day there’s actually a
huge benefit to walking into a room and embracing the fact that
you might not be the smartest person, but you’re going to be the
most passionate and the most relentless beating heart there.”
Recognizing and encouraging other people’s talents is critical
to reaching your goals. Plus, people who are convinced they are
