By Bryan Miles, Co-Founder of BELAY
Have you ever been at a meeting, or a party, or on the golf course with a guy who is just better than you? You know what I mean - they're a "one up'er," besting you with every single story or idea you share. It's as if they can't wait for you to stop talking so that they can tell you how awesome they are and you are not. They look at you like you are stupid and you have no worth at all in any aspect of life. They are terrible listeners and only ask questions that seem to benefit them.
Know anyone like that? I call them "Me Monsters." And I can't stand people like this! So, in our company, we do our best to protect against hiring people like this.
Beware of the Me Monster!
Here's some ways to avoid Me Monsters getting on your Team:
- We avoid people who are stuck on themselves. Look for "I" and "me" in their words. How many times do they refer to others?
- Create a set of questions for them to answer that drive back to your core values as a company. We do this, and it is amazing the responses we get that either align with our values or bounce away from them. We call our questions the "BELAY 10" and it works. It is a watershed exercise, believe me.
- Ask potential Me Monsters how well they serve others. The responses are almost hilarious. They don't serve anyone but themselves, and haven't a clue as to how to serve others.
Me Monsters come in every shape, age, size, and gender. They'll tell you how proud they are of their education, experience, bank account, or whatever. They may be great people, but they can go play on another team somewhere else.
Tell me your craziest "Me Monster" encounter on FaceBook. Or better yet, tell me how you've coached "Me Monsters".
Here's a great video by comedian Brian Regan on the Me Monster! Enjoy!