John is the “office jock”, Marian is the “gossiper”, Sam is the “lazy technician”, and Michael is the “yes man” — though some actually revel on the name calling, stereotyping should never be encouraged in the workplace for a lot of reasons. First, it limits your personality. If you are branded as the official tabloid person in the office, you cannot expect friends to open up with you. It also prevents you from interacting with others. Worse, stereotyping hinders you from succeeding. Seriously, no company would want to promote someone who is known to be very lazy.

The problem is, stereotyping does exist. The only way to rise above it is to know how to deal with it. Whether you are the one who is labeled or someone is, the following tips will surely be helpful:

• Get to know the person on a much deeper level.
Many people believe that “first impressions last,” but the truth is, this does not hold true at all times. You will, however, prove your first impression wrong only when you are willing to open yourself up to others and allow them to become part of your professional life.

There is nothing really wrong in building friendships. In fact, it is highly recommended. It only becomes disadvantageous if it gets in the way of your work.

• Know who you are.
If you do not want to be trapped inside the label, don’t act them out. You should be able to distinguish yourself from the others. You must be able to answer yourself if you deserve the moniker or not.

By knowing your strengths and weaknesses, you can learn to improve on the latter and downplay the former.

• Do not limit yourself.
Show off as many different sides as you can. Surely, people will start calling you “Mr. Serious” if you can’t sway with colleagues or subordinates during office parties. You will no longer be “Ms. Shy” if you decide to head on some projects and contribute ideas during assemblies and office meetings.

• Avoid participating in office politics.
You don’t want to get involved in office gossips as they always lead to plenty of unfortunate events, from workplace conflicts to suspension and even lawsuit. Avoiding office politics will also prevent you from stereotyping people base on what you hear about them.

• Learn to be more open to criticisms.
Not everyone is going to like you, and majority of them will talk behind your back and provide you with labels. Usually, the best option is not to react, especially if they are not true and unless they harm your chances of getting better opportunities. It also helps if you will confront people in a polite way when settling issues they may have of you.