I need advice on how to deal with a certain type of coworker. There’s a guy on my team who talks a lot in meetings and always volunteers easy solutions to every problem that comes up. But after the meeting, he’s nowhere to be found. None of his “solutions” actually materialize, and there’s no real follow-through on anything he says. It seems he’s 100% focused on creating the perception that he’s the solution guy, the smartest one in the room, the one who has it handled, but in practice he’s not even close to that. Basically, he’s a meeting hero / work zero. The frustrating part is that management hears him in these meetings and happily believes he’s actually taking care of things, masterminding solutions for everyone, while doing absolutely nothing when management is not in room. Has anyone else worked with someone like this? How do you deal with all the showboating without getting irritated? Has anyone seen these types ever get the karmic justice they deserve or do they just keep getting away with it forever.
11 replies (most recent on top)
@OP Safe first . I hope they go to he-l and get there safely
Of course there are many in VP positions who got there on others’ backs and is also poster child of this post’s description. In GP, KD (now LNG VP) has done this including being a parrot in meetings just repeating obvious points and/or stealing insightfully ones from others he has heard.
He is also very unprofessional the way he negatively talks about others, typically with false narratives. But hey, WAEM! He fits the mold.
@db The self proclaimed "Mr know it all". I'm not surprised why he is dying alone
I've got a solution . . . I'll tell you about it in our next meeting.
That would be any meeting with Pig Schmal
let me guess: "Architect"?
@a2 also “Justice rides a slow horse”. Heard this quote from one of multiple senior managers who complained to a certain coworker’s sponsor with no movement, once that guy left the company, said offender’s gravy train came to a halt pretty quick and he was fired.
He is not the problem. The problem is management that promotes these behaviors. Who ever is the loudest gets the credit not the one who does the work. Actually he is one level more tolerable than those who get credit for every single success in every project
How to deal with it… just do the same thing and leave him alone
Nah. I tend to identify with those who don't work hard for cruddy ExxonMobil. I'd chuckle to myself each meeting, and each time management believes him.
oh I wish I had a solution for this..."the wheel of justice grinds slowly"