Confident or competent: Know your workplace animal

• Author: OPINION Paul Catmur
• Published date: 08 November 2021
• Publication title: Whanganui Chronicle

To help out, I have constructed a simple chart where you can plot where we all stand in the scheme of competence versus confidence. I believe this may be of benefit for the mediocre as it not only helps contextualise the nature of our colleagues but also assists in plotting our own progress. The chart reveals four distinct quadrants, but there are, of course, grey areas where they overlap. To counter any suggestion that it might not be rigorously scientific I have introduced some animals as metaphors.

The Buffalo: Competent and humbleThese are the backbone of any organisation. Point them at a job and they will quietly get it done. It may not be brilliant, it’s unlikely to be flashy, but it will be what was required, and it will be on time. A prime example of a Buffalo is the rugby prop. They have no discernible skill whatsoever yet will uncomplainingly jog around the pitch banging into other people until you tell them to stop.

The Whales: They have little idea of how good they areThese folk are great, but they just don’t know it. Interview them for a job and you might think them a little uninspired; but hire them and you have a fantastic asset. They sit in meetings, just below the surface, saying very little. Then just before the end, they pop up and somehow manage to sum up the issue and the solution in one sentence. That sentence will then be quoted in perpetuity by everyone else as their own. Whales are ego-free, a delight to manage and you will get nowhere without them.

Lions: Competent and confidentEvery now and again you will come across someone who is not only really good at their job but also has an underlying confidence in themselves that they never have to pull rank. They’re the people you want to follow into battle and people that your parents secretly wish that you were instead of being, well, you. Of course, those that we hold up as exemplary individuals differ between us, but for argument’s sake let’s suggest Richie McCaw, Kate Sheppard and a political leader of your choice. (I’ll make it easy, they don’t have to be a Kiwi.)

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