Embracing some negative character traits can help you succeed at work. Here’s how

Nobody enjoys sitting next to the office grump in meetings, but it’s possible that they just haven’t found the right outlet for their skill set. It turns out that when used wisely, some behaviors or character traits that you perceive negatively can actually help you succeed in your career.

And if you understand others’ behaviors and they understand yours, you can find a team that is a good match and everyone can succeed.

“Innovation and creativity happen when there’s less hedging around, ‘How [will] what I’m going to say be perceived?’ . . . ‘Am I really a part of this group?’” says Bobbi Wegner, adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and founder and CEO at Groops, a workforce development program that helps workers feel more connected.

“When we have high levels of trust, belonging and communication happen a lot faster,” she says.

With a crew that is naturally overly enthusiastic, for instance, the office grump could act as a check and balance, providing a second opinion and shedding light on an illusion.

FINDING YOUR SWEET SPOT

“Certain attributes don’t have to be negative if you find the right role,” says Mercedes Escala, VP of talent and learning at Genesys, an AI customer-experience company.

Those who are hyper-focused on details, for example, might see themselves as obsessive. But poring over manuals or invoices with a magnifying glass could be helpful for certain roles, Escala says, noting that the person doing the final review for contracts will need to have a level of maniacal attention to detail.

Even jealousy—a feeling that is generally perceived negatively—can be hugely beneficial for your workplace success. If you feel resentful that a colleague got a promotion when you did not, it can reveal to you that you deeply desired that promotion. It can also show you that you feel insecure around your value-add to the team. Jealousy can trigger you to ask yourself, “What should I accomplish to get promoted?”

TURNING NEGATIVES INTO POSITIVES

To use your so-called negative characteristics to your advantage, you’d first need to figure out what they are. That requires a level of self-awareness, which is not easy to cultivate. You can do it by making daily self-reflection a practice for at least 15 minutes a day, Wegner says. “You can . . . ask yourself open-ended questions like ‘How did I live my values today?’ And ‘How do I want to live my values tomorrow?’”

Being aware of your individuality starts by understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and values. Through introspection, you can identify the behaviors you want to keep and those that you don’t.

The next step is to communicate with your team. You don’t have to excuse the way you behave. Rather, you’re communicating why you find meaning in performing tasks a certain way. As a leader, for instance, Wegner suggests saying something like “Trust is built with me by responding in an appropriate amount of time that we can determine together. This is important to me.”

The caveat with negative traits is that turning them into positives does not excuse you from being the office jerk, of course. You must develop a sense for what is appropriate behavior and what is not.

WHEN SOMETHING FEELS OFF

If you’re a leader, it’s your responsibility to build practices where your team members feel safe speaking openly about who they are and why they find value in performing projects a certain way. This will help your team members be more empathetic, and it fosters a deeper understanding within the team.

“We can see each other’s behaviors as annoying, but when we can actually understand why people do certain things, we can place them in a position to perform better,” Wegner says.

Creating a dynamic where people communicate openly and feel that there’s enough psychological safety to speak up will make team members feel united. Teams with people who feel connected with each other perform better, are 21% more profitable, and have 59% less turnover, according to Gallup’s employee-engagement analysis.

To foster high-performing teams, leaders must examine the group dynamic. If a person’s behavior seems subpar, leaders must ask, “How can we put that person in a position to use their strengths to support the team’s mission?” Wegner says.

For example, a restless individual can keep everyone on track for project timelines. “An impatient person will be knocking on everybody’s door, asking for things, and even accelerating the project,” Escala says. “You are taking that negative trait, combining it with ambition, and it’s allowing you to make progress in a shorter time window.”

Once you’ve nurtured self-reflection and communicated your reason why you take your approach, should it be time to get rid of those “bad” qualities?

The best thing to do is to accept them, Escala says. “They are super ingrained in who you are. Embracing your character traits allows you to be in a place where you can make those traits work for you.”