Fakers, Takers, Bakers and Makers

Subject: Success, Motivation, Motivational

By Victor Antonio

I read a book by Carl Jung many years ago called, “Man and His Symbols”.  It’s a socio-psychological analysis on who and what makes up our society.  One of Jung’s terms that stuck with me was the word Archetypes.

Did you ever meet someone and within minutes you have a good sense of the person?  Jung says if you do, you have categorized that person under some archetype you have stored in your memory.

For example, if every salesperson you meet uses a ton of grease in their hair, wears polka dotted suits, talks at the speed of light and proves themselves to be untrustworthy over and over again, it’s a sure bet that anyone fitting that description in the future will be categorized as untrustworthy.  By Jung’s definition, the very description of the person is an archetype you use to determine if someone is trustworthy or not.  It’s a shortcut to processing and cataloging our human relationships.  Over time, we develop an internal database of archetypes (categories for people) so that when we meet someone for the first time, we get this sense of who they are based on our past experiences with others.

In the world of sales and business in general I believe there are four broad categories (archetypes) of people in this world: The Faker, The Taker, The Baker and The Maker.  Jung would most likely disagree with my quantification (i.e., how many categories), but I’m sure he would agree with the qualification of each (i.e., make up of the type).

The Faker

These are people who pretend to know what they don’t know.  These are people who use smoke and mirrors to get-by in life and are always worried that if the illusion is not polished enough they’ll be discovered for the fakes they really are.  Fakers have all kinds of strategies to disguise their insecurities behind a veil of pretension.  Fakers have no depth, they are purely one dimensional.  Their whole life is organized around maintaining the illusion and hoping no one catches on.

How do you detect fakers?  Look for inconsistencies.  For example, they claim to have a lot of money, but when you look at what they wear, it’s not consistent.  When they tell you how well their doing but they show up to every networking event, you have to ask yourself, if they were that successful, why are they still hustling for new leads and contacts?  To me, a dead giveaway is a website or wall full of pictures with famous people.  Why?  It smacks of insecurity.  It’s no different than those who hang every degree or award they've ever received on their walls.  People who are well respected don’t need ornamental reminders of their accomplishments.  To successful people, awards are tokens of the past.  There's always a danger of getting stuck in the past; looking backwards not forward. 

For people with pictures alongside famous people, here’s the real litmus test.  If they’re that good, and that well respected, shouldn’t the famous people have a picture of them on their site or wall?  Just a thought!  Like in high school, hanging out with the most popular kid just to be popular is not ‘success by association’, it’s insecurity.

The Taker

These are people who always want something for nothing.  These are people who are always looking for a shortcut to success at your expense.  These are the same people who never want to pay for anything and free is barely affordable.  These are the people who will call you up under the pretext of “I want to see how you’re doing” but in reality what they really want is usually disguised and revealed towards the tail end of a conversation. Nothing makes a Taker panic more then the thought of you having to hang up before they’ve gotten what they’re after.  Takers will always ask you to share your information and insight but are reluctant to reciprocate.  Their weapons of obfuscation and deceit are phrases like:

I’ll make it a point to send it to you or email to you.

I don’t have it right now, but next we talk I’ll give it to you.

I can’t remember off the top of my head...I’ll get back to you.

I’ll find a way to pay you back.

Can I use (or borrow) that?

In most case they never follow-up or get back to you.  And, if they’re Sincere Takers (oxymoron here) they’ll say,

I really appreciate your willingness to share.

In either of the cases above there is no sense of appreciation or visible reciprocation.  The only thing Takers “don’t take” is the time to follow-up or thank you with some gesture of appreciation.  Takers take until they can’t take any more or they’ve taken all they need…then they stop calling or coming around and move on to the next victim.

The Baker

These are people who talk a great game but never get into the game.   These are people who are full of plans of making it big, but in the end the only thing their full of is what you find in a pasture of male cows.  It’s said that a goal is a dream with a deadline.  Bakers never set a deadline.  Their time horizon for getting things done shifts into the distance with every excuse of why they can’t get started.  They’re the same people who’ll complain that society is unfair and inequitable.  Earl Nightengale, the great motivator, said that success plays no favorites.  In other words, success is available to any willing to risk failure and simply get started.

Bakers are those people who every year you hear them declare, “This is the year I’m going to do it!” but end up doing nothing.  They’ll ‘rationalize’ why they can’t get started.  In my book, The Logic of Success, I called this the ability to rationalize.  If you break up the word you see that it's the ability to ‘Ration-lies” to oneself for not starting. 

Bakers always have an excuse of why they can’t start.  Their main ingredient for life is peppered with cant’s, won’ts, don’ts and a dash of tomorrow sauce for flavor.  Bakers will ‘bake’ their grand ideas for a very long time without ever pulling it out of the mental oven into reality.  Sadly enough, these are the same people who will whisper with their last breath, “I should’ve…”  Too late!  The oven timer of life just went off.

The Makers

Take the inverse of the top three (Faker, Taker, Baker) and you have a Maker.  Makers don’t rely on other people to validate who they are.  Their success is predicated on their own accomplishments and not those of others.  Makers have their own limelight and never try to squeeze into the picture of someone else’s success.  Makers don’t take unless they can compensate the other party for what they receive.  Makers always seek to give more than they get.  If they have to pay for something, they do.  For Makers the word FREE is suspect whose cost may be too high in the long run by having too many strings attached. 

Makers are pay-as-you-go people who don’t believe in shortcuts or taking advantage of others.  They have an ethical code of conduct that prohibits them from doing so.  The philosopher Ayn Rand referred to this code as a ‘value for value’ relationship whereby all relationships, business or personal, should be judged on the bases of giving value for value. 

Makers don’t try to impress people with what they’re going to do.  They allow their accomplishments and actions to speak on their behalf.  When it comes to risks, Makers don’t seek guarantees, they only seek opportunities to succeed.  A Maker is independent in every way and never dependent in any way.

So there you have it, my Jungian-like archetypes: the Faker, Taker, Baker and Maker.  When you're dealing with people on a personal or business level, learn to identify who you're dealing with.  It may save you time, money and maybe even a little heartache in the end.

Please share this article with a friend who may need a word of inspiration.

Copyright © 2007 by Victor Antonio   All rights reserved.  This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio.