The best way to reveal someone’s true nature is to put them in a position of power. This can come in the form of money or a social position where they have control over others, such as a government clerk or a manager.
At work, you may witness this transformation firsthand. A colleague begins as a friendly, considerate person who listens, smiles, and values the opinions of their peers. They make thoughtful, fair decisions and are well-liked by everyone.
However, as they rise up the ladder of power, their behavior changes. They become less observant of others’ opinions, they listen less, and they stop responding to requests. Their behavior starts to seem less logical as they ignore valuable feedback and questions, or they puzzle others by going back on things they agreed to previously. They may even throw others under the bus.
It’s understandable that as their workload increases, they can’t be everywhere and remember everything. However, it’s how they handle it that reveals their true nature.
A person who has an innate respect for other people will be more thoughtful with their actions no matter what position they’re in. If they forget something, they would acknowledge it and apologize. And they would take it further by finding a way to make changes to their work routines so that it doesn’t happen again. Because it’s important to them.
It happens in rare occasions but unfortunately the most common scenario is that people morph into brilliant jerks. No one is immune to this, and we need to be constantly keeping our values in check with every move we make.