Never Complain About Workplace Unfairness — Choose a Broad Mind to Respond (2)
At half past twelve, just as Yanis Zhang was about to leave, Ken Zhu spoke up: "Yanis, the manager wants you to present an important plan this afternoon. No matter how urgent your business is, you can't leave!" No plan in this department had ever been finished in half a day—this was clearly deliberate trouble. Yanis finally lost her patience and shouted at him in anger: "You're two-faced and abuse your power for personal gain! Let me tell you, even if you fire me, I have to leave today!"
The next day at work, Ken Zhu acted as if nothing had happened. But when payday came, Yanis’s salary was docked by ten percent, supposedly because she had left her post without permission and was treated as absent without leave.
Soon after, the department arranged for business training. Only Yanis and one other employee qualified. Yet when the notice came, Yanis’s name was missing. It turned out Ken Zhu said the workload was too heavy, and there was no way to spare two people.
At year’s end, Yanis didn’t get a raise; instead, she was demoted to a secondary position. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. If things kept going like this, what meaning was left in her work?
Relationships in the workplace are extremely complicated, especially when dealing with petty people—they can be very hard to handle. But getting angry and confronting them head-on solves nothing.
Petty people’s skills are all in their words, because they lack real ability—they can only be giants in speech.
They love to show off, deliberately do what others won’t, a sign of their selfishness and vanity. People who always put themselves first will, for their own benefit, do things that harm others and the group. Likewise, don’t expect someone with a strong vanity to contribute to the team. The heavier their vanity, the weaker their sense of responsibility, and the less they care about their work.
Everyone wants to get close to those in power. Around these people, there are both genuine gentlemen and hypocritical petty people. In some ways, petty people work harder on those in power, because they want to use their influence to squeeze out others and satisfy their own desires. They often behave in bizarre ways, jumping around, seeming busier and more enthusiastic than anyone—but it’s just a facade, a smokescreen to fool others. So, when dealing with petty people, keep your distance; if you get too close, you’ll lose perspective.
Zhuge Liang said something similar in his "Memorial on the Expedition": "Favor the virtuous and keep away from petty people—this was why the early Han dynasty thrived; favor petty people and alienate the virtuous—this was why the later Han declined." These two stark contrasts reveal the harm petty people can do. The workplace is like a river with all kinds of fish. Power itself has no feelings, nor discernment—it can’t tell who is a gentleman or a petty person. Only those who wield power can do that.
Petty people always hide their true selves, which makes it easy to misjudge them. Zhuge Liang’s words are like a guiding light, illuminating our path. Flies can’t bite an uncracked egg—if we guard against petty people and keep our distance, they’ll have no way to harm us.