The Indoor Plants

Survival profile

Alone it is hard, but with others you can go the distance. Leading the judgment calls feels heavy to you; instead you do your assigned part faithfully and keep the warmth between people. Small as that role looks, a group cannot last long without it. But who you are with decides almost your entire outcome — and for that choice, you are not yet prepared. In daily life it looks like this. When a group project asks who wants to pick the topic, you go quiet — but once the roles are set, your part gets done to the end. You do not volunteer to run the gathering, yet you stay behind to clean up. That is exactly why people find you easy to be around. Without someone like you, a group scatters within days.

Strength and weakness

Any team is glad to have you because you quietly carry your share. The problem is when the team goes bad. While others leave one by one, you stay the longest, thinking that if you go the ones remaining will have it harder. That same conscientiousness gets billed to you this time.

Advice

• Define When You Leave — Attachment clouds judgment. When you join a group, decide in advance what would make you leave.
• Own One Skill Outright — Depend on the group for everything and you fall when it scatters. Secure one skill you can use alone.

Closing note

"Tell me what company thou keepest, and I'll tell thee what thou art." — Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote