By Wilma Davidson, Ed.D. and Jack Dougherty
St. Martin’s Press

Introduction

The Premise of the Book

High school is never over.

The workplace—whether a high-rise office building, factory floor, or retail store—is really just an adult version of high school, though many of us pretend otherwise.  Look around.  The Class President is in the corner office.  The Party Animal is out entertaining clients.  The Class Clown is in the cafeteria doing a wicked imitation of the Class President. The Gossip is busy telling everyone within earshot the skinny on the controller’s divorce proceedings.  And the Player just accepted the regional vice president’s invitation for drinks after work.

Whether we work on the assembly line or in the executive suite, adults in the workplace gossip, mock, backstab, envy, flatter, covet, cajole, charm, pass notes during meetings, and otherwise behave just as we did in high school.  High school is simply a lab for the rest of our life. (Talk about a permanent record!)

Bottom Line

We are who we were in high school, whether we realize it or not.  During those years, a mini-adult version of us emerged.  Many of our core traits on display then inform our personality and behavior at work today; our ability to make friends easily, or our love of clothes, or our competitive streak, or our willingness to pitch in, or possibly our persistent anger at not being taken seriously.  We developed a communication style then—a way of presenting ourselves to the world—and that style is either working for us today or isn’t.

The Promise of This Book: How It can Help You

You were typecast in high school and probably are now at work.  But, whether you’re the A Student, Underachiever, Geek, Activist, Complainer, or some combination of our two-dozen archetypes, it’s not too late to reinvent or reinvigorate yourself.  Our goal is to help you downplay the traits that hurt you, pump up the skills that help you, and “round yourself out” by adopting the best traits from your class…er, workmates.  Think of our book as the best friend who’ll tell you honestly how you’re coming across to others.

You don’t get a second chance at high school but there’s still plenty of time to improve your image and reputation at work, to make the most of your natural style, and to boost your chances for professional success.  As the writer George Eliot said, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”  So, let’s get started, class.

The Underachiever

“IF YOU’RE COASTING, YOU’RE GOING DOWNHILL.”
                                          - L.W. Pierson

The senior year English term paper on War and Peace was torture for everyone in Mr. Cekota’s class … except for the Underachiever, who read only the first and last chapters of the book, wrote the paper before school on the morning it was due, and was awarded a B.

The Underachiever was competent at everything and seemingly excellent at nothing.  A master at “winging it.”  The Underachiever could study Algebra for twenty hours and get an A+; or study for two hours, watch TV for 18, and get a B.  The teachers’ comments on the report cards were always the same: “Works below potential.” 

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