Avoid Negative People At All Costs

Negative people waste time, money and energy. They will infect your team and business. You must remove them from your work environment.

These human black holes are a disease and must be avoided at all costs.

Robert Greene makes the point in The 48 Laws of Power, #10 Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky.

Teams die from one persons misery. The lowest common denominator of your team will be it's anchor, dragging it down because these people attract misfortune and bad luck. They are constant sources of conflict 

To build a good team you should "only associate with the happy and fortunate," says Greene.

Negative people are professional energy vampires, they rob your team and business of it's vitality.

You Must Take Responsibility For These People

Everybody, everything in your business and life is your responsibility. To blame negative people for their words or actions is to absolve yourself of your personal power and the power to change your situation.

If you want to improve or change, you must take action. . . you cannot absorb these negative folks' energy. You must first face the hard facts, accept them then accept and love yourself. With love and acceptance you will discover the answers you seek.

These peoples' emotions are not your fault, you cannot fix them or change their point of view from negative to positive.

As a team leader there are a few things you can do:

Don't hire destructive people, ever. Because these people are chronic pains in the ass.

They don't take responsibility for their screw ups and they're never at fault. Their words and actions betray their negative points of view. They constantly nitpick and micromanage, yet bristle when criticized.

You must pick up on their negative world view early on; their energy, words and actions can be very subtle, refuse to take them on your team. Remember, regardless of their skills, these difficult people are a sickness just waiting to happen and must be avoided at all costs.

Remove negative and difficult people from your current team as quickly as possible before the infection spreads. Keep an ear and an eye out for team members who attract drama, always have an issue, a complaint, or plays "us against them" games. Remember avoid the "unhappy and unlucky.

As William Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar:

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,

He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
. . .
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius.
. . .
Such men as he be never at heart's ease,
Whilst they behold a greater than themselves;
And therefore are they very dangerous.

Remove Negative People From Your Ranks

Building a team is difficult enough without allowing diseased energy vampires and having to deal with difficult people in your work environment. The people you choose, accept, employ and associate with are vital to your success (or failure).

If you allow refuge to negative, unhappy, unlucky people in your business, you will infect your team.

Ultimately, that is your responsibility