Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (8 page)

The Mars will is so fantastically strong that your Aries boss (who will probably be fairly lucky at gambling) can go to the casino and practically command the right cards out of the dealer. You're bound to feel the effect of such a forceful personality, so expect plenty of fireworks, excitement, chaos and intense activity around the office. Your business day will seldom be uneventful. Something will always be happening.

There will be nothing lethargic about her, and there had better not be anything lethargic about you. Your Aries employer will probably have little interest in any previous bad job record you held before or in the reasons why your former boss may have fired you. She's the best bet to approach under these circumstances. Because of his conviction that she's going to make the future what she wants it to be, Aries is seldom bothered or concerned by the past. Yours or hers.

The Mars executive is too proud to let others know they've hurt her. In spite of quick outbursts of temper (which won't last long or be vindictive, and will be forgotten as soon as they're over), she will hide quite well those things which truly affect her deeply. The ram won't admit her dependence on anyone but herself. She does need others—far more than she will ever admit, but his strength comes from inside, and she can always find a way of going it alone when she must.

If you can admire her energy and courage, though you find it impossible to imitate; if you can make up for his impulsive, slapdash ways by patiently filling in the details she's overlooked in haste (and do this unobtrusively), she'll probably pay you more money than you can make anywhere else and you'll be with her for life. Tactfully attempt to keep her from doing or saying rash things she'll regret later. Remind her gently that those to whom she directs his temporary righteous anger may be Very Important People and they could react in a way which will hurt his business if she alienates them.

That's the important thing to remember about your Aries boss. In spite of her great independent spirit, when her idealistic, optimistic enthusiasm gets her in over her head, she really needs your help, faith and loyalty. Give these to her in abundance and you'll never find a pink slip in your pay envelope. You won't have to worry when missing a taxi in rainy weather makes you late for work, if you need an extra week's vacation time for an operation—or about someone younger and more efficient replacing you. More than any other kind of boss, she'll repay loyalty with loyalty. Keep a full supply of aspirin in the desk drawer for frequent emergencies, polish up your smile, don't take his outbursts seriously—and you can forget about online job searches. You'll want to stay where the action is.

A job interview with a prospective Aries employee, if he's a typical ram, might run something like this:

EMPLOYER: I see from your resume and references that you've been with six different firms in the past two years, Mr. Bootsikaris.

ARIES: Call me Charlie, Mr. Flaxman. Yes, I believe in trying to advance myself. When you outgrow a job, what's the point of staying in a position where there's nothing more you can learn and nothing more you can contribute to the company?

EMPLOYER: That's just what bothers me, Char—uh, Mr. Bootsikaris. I'm afraid you may outgrow us in a short time, also, after we've spent the money to train you.

ARIES: I thought that might concern you. But you don't have to worry. I've investigated your company, and I'm sure I wouldn't feel restless, because I can see there's plenty of opportunity with you for anyone who really tries. I've always wanted to work with a really great, creative and progressive management. This kind of organization is so rare, I'd rather wait ‘til there's an opening here than go anywhere else.

Needless to say, the boss who can overcome her initial shock at such an unusual interview is likely to hire the Aries on the spot. That kind of sincere enthusiasm for the company is hard to come by these days—never mind the abruptness and the superego.

Hiring an Aries can be the smartest move you ever made or the largest headache you've ever known, depending on how you aim this combustible, misguided missile. Aiming him toward a routine, nine-to-five job is the wrong direction. In the beginning, he may shine like a silver dollar to impress you, but it won't be long before he's restless and unhappy. And he'll let you know it in unmistakable ways, like coming in a little later each day, taking extra time for lunch, or writing personal letters at his desk. These are all danger signals that your Aries employee is not satisfied. He's still extremely valuable to your firm, but he's bored, and when the ram gets bored, his virtues are quickly buried under his shortcomings.

Put your Aries worker in a position where he has complete freedom to make decisions, answerable if possible, only to you. If you can do it without hurting office morale, allow him to come to work at odd hours. After a short period you'll notice that, although he may appear as late as ten or eleven in the morning, or take two hours for lunch, he'll also be the very last one to leave at night, especially if there's extra work to get out. He's more likely than any of your other employees to accept additional assignments as a challenge, without complaining.

Many an Aries will labor until the wee small hours, if it's necessary, or if there's an exciting project under way, and probably be more familiar to the nightly cleaning staff than to the early morning switchboard receptionist. You won't find him getting edgy or peeking at the clock around five o'clock, so why should you be fussy if it's twenty minutes past ten when he arrives in the morning? That's his reasoning, and there's a certain logic in it.

The Arien is constitutionally unable to keep to a tight and uniform schedule, regardless of standard office procedure. His great, creative energy comes on him at all hours, and it can't be adjusted to fit someone's idea of the proper working day. He may ask to leave early some afternoon for pressing personal reasons, but he'll come back later the same night to burn the midnight oil, or pop in before the birdies chirp the following morning to make up the work he's missed. One thing Aries can't stand is to turn in work which is less perfect than he knows he can do. Despite his carelessness with detail and his disdain of normal office routine, that quality is too good to miss. It's worth putting up with the Mars independence to take advantage of his wonderful determination to succeed, which will obviously benefit your company, if you're astute enough and patient enough to utilize it properly.

Money is never his prime reason for working. He will insist on being paid what he's worth (what
he
thinks he's worth) for the sake of ego and status, but money is never his main objective. He's motivated by success, and cash is always secondary. He may frequently ask to borrow money, because the ram usually lives beyond his income. Still, an extra pat on the back will often get more out of him than an extra five dollars a week in his pay envelope. Of course, you may have to tame his natural desire to take over everyone else's department, since he's bursting with ideas of how everyone in the firm could get where they're going faster, including you. But if you can learn not to take offense at his frequent and impertinent suggestions, you'll find a bonus of original and profitable thoughts.

Always put Aries in the action job, in a position where he can get out and promote the firm and mix with people. Never put him behind a desk where he has to do the same thing day after day under the scrutiny of another employee. Aries will take orders willingly from very few people, since he believes very few people are superior to him. He undoubtedly thinks you are, or he wouldn't have gotten mixed up with you in the first place. Once he's sure you understand and appreciate his efforts, he'll probably be the most loyal, hard-working and competent employee on your payroll. But put him in an inferior position and he'll be reluctant to make any but the most perfunctory effort.

Naturally, he can't always start at the top, though he'd like to. If he must begin at the bottom and learn a new trade or profession, try to add some kind of important-sounding responsibility to his daily duties, so he'll at least think he's at the top. It allows him to save face with himself. To bring out his best, he needs to feel that the place couldn't run without him. The ram is a natural promoter. He'll promote your business to his family and friends enthusiastically, to cab drivers, waiters and anyone else who will listen—at the movies, in the swimming pool—and not just during the hours he's being paid to do so. He'll turn everyone from his broker to his insurance man into a booster for your firm. Few people (except Leos) can equal him in bringing in new accounts, saving customers you thought were hopelessly lost and putting over the largest, most ambitious schemes you can devise—especially when he thinks you're depending on him to come through.

If there's ever any kind of financial trouble, your Aries employee is not one to desert a sinking ship. He'll stick with you through the crisis, and possibly add a few ideas of his own about how to solve it. The Arien is literally unable to conceive that anything or anyone he believes in, including himself, can fail. Obviously, such a trait can be mighty welcome some black day.

Ask this employee to work on weekends or holidays, take a temporary cut in salary during an emergency or perform someone else's job in addition to his own in case of illness or vacation, and he'll seldom complain. Just be sure you thank him warmly and let him know you honestly appreciate it. There's little he won't do to get enthusiastic approval from you. Never give someone else credit for work he's done, never make him feel guilty about being late, don't compliment others too often when he's around, don't harp on his mistakes—especially in front of other people—and never give him the impression you wish he'd stay in his place. Otherwise, he'll be irritable, frustrated and lazy. You won't have to fire him. He'll most likely quit before you get around to it. It's usually not necessary to scold the ram, anyway. He'll be the first to apologize for errors he's committed through his natural haste and impulsiveness, if he's met halfway, and he'll sincerely try not to repeat them. Even if he's not always successful in that attempt, his intentions are admirable. You may want to train him tactfully and privately not to be so rash and over-confident, but never break his spirit. If you try, you'll fail, and the attempt will just lose you all that refreshing and valuable optimism.

When you recognize his talents, Aries will literally knock himself out to top himself. Criticism will never accomplish its intended purpose with him. Besides, he's more often right than wrong with his hunches, no matter what some of the experts who have been around for years might think. Aries has an uncanny ability to understand today with a clarity not possessed either by those who cling to yesterday or those who pin all their hopes on tomorrow. So it pays to listen to him, even though his eagerness and his sureness that he's right makes him drop his manners now and then, with a loud and unpleasant thud.

As soon as you can, give him a raise or a title to let him know he's doing well and that you're pleased, and by all means, as quickly as you can, let him either work alone or lead others. Let him feel he's your personal associate. It's imperative that those dealing with an Aries in any working or professional capacity realize that he will pour out an amazing number of valuable contributions to the project at hand only if he feels that, in some way, he's important. When his excitement and his idealism are dampened, he quickly loses interest, becomes disheartened and stands back to let others take over—glum and miserable—an unnecessary waste of rare and useful talent. Unless the ram is allowed to promote, create and originate, he's no use to himself or anyone else. Logic and kindness will reach him every time.

Because he's a natural innovator and leader, Aries is at home in almost any career or profession. There are no special places where he thrives best. Whether it's a greenhouse or a police station—whether he wears a fireman's hat or a surgeon's mask—he must be in charge. The fields of advertising and public relations attract him, since they give him a chance to promote, and he takes to selling like a duck takes to water. But you can place him in any job, from teaching to trucking—from broadcasting to building—and he'll fit right into the slot, if the slot is wide enough to take up his excess energy and ego.

You may run across a ram who hides his drive under a calmer, more controlled manner, but don't kid yourself into thinking you can push him into the corner. That's for little Jack Horner, not him. His place is in front—avant-garde. Channel his abilities and he'll make a heap of money for you, as well as give you unswerving, unquestioned loyalty—especially when the chips are down. If you do a little comparative shopping around, you'll find those virtues are cheap at half the price.

 

 

A travel bug friend of mine, who has been everywhere at least twice, told me he will never forget his first trip to southern Spain on a tramp steamer. One day, while he was on deck admiring the view, a huge mass of solid rock loomed ahead in the distance, rising grandly out of the bright, blue Mediterranean. Someone on the ship shouted, “Look! The Rock of Gibraltar!” Awed and impressed, my friend snapped a picture of it for the folks back home, then turned to a bored teenager in the next deck chair, and waxed poetic. “Isn't it beautiful?” he asked. “Tons of water have beaten against it through the centuries, storms have lashed at it, armies have assaulted it, civilizations have come and gone, but it just sits there. Nothing ever changes it, and nothing can make it move.” The teenager yawned. “Yeah. Reminds me of my old man.”