to be ruthless or not to be ruthless

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So I am in a situation where I can be flat out agressive and TAKE what is coming to me... I can gain control of a situation and contribute more than anyone else out of about 20,000 people to a specific task...

something that was brought up to me is how other people felt... I originally was aggressively taking this on because the only people who think they can compete with my expertise in my company are people who claim that they cant quite do so because they are behind the times they haven't had the training as soon as I did... (wtf ever btw... I dont like that person)

I dont want people to feel bad, and I am always worried that my misunderstandings will lead to someone thinking I was heartlessly aggressive. I dont want someone to view me as the type that steps on people on my way up the corporate ladder..

Unfortunately, I should probably be asking NT people for advice on this, but instead I would like to know what other spectrum folks think...

is it wrong of me to fight to make sure something is done right and ignore the aspect that people are telling me that I might seem like I am being ruthless and shrewd?

I'm a junior manager; this week I reported a employee to my supervisors for goofing off in the lunchroom when he should have been working, he was 'talked to'.

He immediatly came after me asking why I had told on him? What has he done to me to make me snitch on him? He had done nothing to me, but still he was ripping the company off by goofing off when he should have been working. I didn't know what to say to him when he confronted me about it.

Should I have done nothing; followed the rule 'If you don't have anything good to say to anyone, then don't say anything at all'. Or was it better to do what I did and have the problem remedied sooner, rather than later.

So now I feel bad about this, he doesn't want to have anything further to do with me, and even my supervisor didn't sympathise with me, saying "I'm the one who had to tell him, why are you feeling bad about it?"

In retrospect, my repuation my have been damaged by being aggressive and sticking to 'the rules'. The company isn't being ripped off anymore, but I'm worse off personally for being agressive, and enforcing the rules.

Within a NT workplace I can't help but feel there is always a double standard at work. The make rules that they know people will break, then they get some kind of a 'rush' penalizing after the fact?? I'll never truly fit in anywhere.

People are paid to work, not goof off. If they're goofing off, then they're stealing from their employers. Thieves deserve to be fired, so that more honest people can be brought in to do the job instead.

Too bad if it makes them cry.

I've always approached issues that arise in the workplace with a motto the AF taught me, solve problems at the lowest possible level. If I were the junior manager, I would have confronted the "goofing off" employee for an explanation of his perceived violation, and if deemed to be justified, a warning or applicable penalty I'm authorized to use at my level of authority. If that fails to work, and I can come up with no alternative, then take the issue to my boss for correction.

The benefit of attempting to solve this yourself directly first is twofold. One, you might solve it. This makes you feel good, prevents you from feeling like a snitch, and makes the issue an open matter between you (the one who takes issue with goofing off) and the employee (the one goofing off). Secondly, it avoids bringing a problem to your boss. Your boss wants less problems, not more, every problem he doesn't have to deal with is a win for you. He notices this, I promise you. And even if you do need to take it to him because your intervention wasn't adequate, you can mention your attempt...this shows at least you tried to avoid bringing it to him, and that you are proactive.

Ps. Infinite. Do what you need to do for your career mate, others might not like it, but so long as you avoid direct malice and are simply focused on your own success, any problem your coworkers have is their own issue. They are not going to look out for you over their own careers, you should do the same. Teamwork is a wonderful thing, but my rule of thumb is "Do what is best for me, and still good for the group" Never the other way around.