Leadership Skills

SI: Pet Peeves

Pet peeves are things that bother you and can lead to extreme frustration. For example, I once knew a guy who came into work every morning, sat in the next cubicle, and spent a few minutes clipping his fingernails. Then he put his paperback into a sandwich bag and went downstairs for at least 30 minutes. During that time he was occupying one of the stalls in the men's room. While working for that employer, this routine was one of my pet peeves. Write down at least three of your work-related pet peeves.

Other pet peeves might include:

• Chewing with one's mouth open
• Fidgeting with objects
• Clicking pens for a long period
• Showing up late for appointments
• Promising to do things and not following through
• Never saying please or thank you

Use this table to identify where your pet peeves might be within the categories of social intelligence:

You could also use this table to reflect on your own behaviors to identify where you might make improvements.