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Sun Sign Libra - The Libra Employee |
There was once a Libran designer who was brought to the west coast to do the costumes for a big movie, and he sat in his suite in a posh Beverly Hills hotel for six full weeks without making a single sketch. It wasn't because he lacked ideas. He was overflowing with them. It was the carpeting - that hideous, shrill, peacock blue carpeting. It gave him migraine nightmares. He couldn't even think straight, let alone create, and he didn't want to change his suite because he liked the view of the palm trees.
For almost two months the film was held up until the producer finally discovered the problem. As soon as he was made aware of the Libran's aesthetic difficulties, the offensive floor covering was replaced by new wall-to-wall carpeting in an acceptable, subdued rose shade. If you're wondering why the producer was so understanding, he was a Gemini. Whether or not the designer's complaint was reasonable didn't concern him. The Gemini simply wanted to get things moving as quickly as possible, and he took the speediest way out. Both Aquarian and Gemini bosses are fabulous when it comes to handling the delicate Venus temperament. There's an intangible empathy between air signs. They're all floating around on some kind of cloud, but at different altitudes.
Please don't get the impression that you should run right out and find a rug salesman if you have a Libra employee. Not all people born in late September or October are irreplaceable artists with such sensitive nerves. But even the average Libra employee will work more happily if his surroundings don't distract him.
He'll also be more efficient if he isn't offended by the people he works with every day. A rough, sordid, unhar-monious atmosphere may depress him, but uncongenial co-workers will really send him into a blue fog. He's as conscious of the vibrations of personalities as he is of the vibrations of colors, especially in close quarters. If your Libra employee has seemed confused lately, or not himself; if he's been turning in sloppy work which doesn't meet his usual standard, he's not necessarily slipping. Perhaps he's allergic to the mail boy or the cleaning woman. (I hope it's not his own secretary. The constant, abrasive pain would be unbearable.) It might even be the blotter on his desk. Give him a nice, new, clean one, preferably in a baby blue, change the cleaning woman's shift and keep the mail room staff away from him. Notice how his work improves immediately? He was just off balance.
When those Libra scales get tipsy, anything can happen. Both the male and female Librans can turn disgruntled and lazy and offer no excuse for their sullen silences. Such a change from their normal sweetness and calm is bound to unsettle your own mind a little, too. How can anyone with such an attractive dimple in his (or her) chin be so disagreeable? It's easy. How would you like your scales to be tipped sideways? It's not a pleasant feeling-rather like being on a boat that's rolling from port to starboard on a choppy ocean. Something may have happened at home to turn him around. Whatever the cause, it's a waste of anxiety to let yourself get disturbed when the Libra scales are unbalanced. It seldom takes long for the Libran to get them swinging harmoniously again. Then peace and tranquility will reign once more in your office; your Libran's work will be as inspired as ever, and you'll return to melting as usual when you get warmed by that incomparable Venus smile.
If there's a union of any kind connected with your company, the chances are the Libran employee will be right in there defending equal rights and fair wages. In fact, lots of people born under this Sun sign make unions their life work. The most important thing to all Ubrans is harmony. Perfect justice is their ideal. Unions offer him just too good a chance to pass up for his natural talent in settling disputes.
If there's no union to call for his fair judgment, then he's probably the one who becomes the peacemaker when office quarrels rage. The typical Libran is beautifully adept at clearing the air of disagreements. He defends both sides with a total lack of prejudice for either, makes opposing wranglers see each other's viewpoint, and finally tops it off by getting everyone to shake hands all around. The thing which may completely confound you is that he will instigate a few heated arguments himself. But you must remember that to him, these are healthy debates. He loves nothing more than batting the pros back to the cons, then switching to pitch the cons against the pros. In his eyes, that's not fighting. A good, intelligent argument is pure entertainment. It's better than going to the movies. He's usually cheerfully unaware that he's creating any tension when he drives his points home with brilliant logic, and causes others to strangle on their weak suppositions. As soon as his game of brain busting reaches the point where tempers become obviously frayed, he's dismayed. Then, if he's a typical Venus person, he'll quickly pour healing balms over the open wounds, and flatter everyone out of their bad humor with the sunshine of his smile. Frankly, you could kill him for manipulating you so casually.
Soothing his hurt feelings when he's been offended is another matter altogether. It's difficult to figure just what annoys or pleases the Libran employee. What brought a twinkling laugh or a wreath of tolerant smiles one day can bring a severe frown of injured innocence the next, or vice versa. It's those scales again, of course. How can Libra tell in advance what his mood will be toward any given subject when he doesn't know himself how far he'll be dipping to one side or the other? Ask his co-workers. Does that fellow (or girl) with the dimpled grin have unpredictable reactions? You'll get answers like, "Well, the other day I asked her if she had gained a little weight, and she smiled at me so sweetly, I got the idea she thought it was becoming. This morning I called her 'Chubby' in jest, and she won't speak to me." Or you'll get a reply like, "Well, last week, he showed me a record he bought at the Colony Record Shop-one of those old Glenn Miller 78's-and I remarked that big bands are as outdated as dinosaurs. He just grinned, and said he was a student of ancient history. Today, he heard me telling the receptionist that big bands are square, and he nearly took my head off and called me a sick, psychedelic hippy. He had a great sense of humor about it last week. How was I supposed to know he collects big band albums, lights a candle every night and listens to them like he's in a cathedral?"
Libra will love you today for what he hated you for last month, and hell despise you tomorrow for what he found delightful yesterday. It's a little delicate to deal with his changeable reactions, but underneath all the ups and downs, the Libra nature remains basically fair and sane. His frowns are only skin deep. His smiles are real. Ignore the first and hang on to the second. In fact, nothing rocks the typical Venus person more than unnecessary shouting and tension. He's far more likely to avoid nasty scenes than to court them. There's never any vinegar in the Venus anger. There may be a little ice around the edges, but ice does eventually melt, you know.
Female Libran employees often remind you of a slice of whole wheat toast. There's a sort of Campfire Girl mystique about them. Of course, a few may have maple sugar spread on the whole wheat, in the form of dove-like voices and soft manners, but it's a pleasant sweetness. You'll rarely find a Venus girl who looks tough and battered with jaded eyes and blatant sex appeal. Hers is more of a fresh and mellow appeal, like the red and gold hues of Indian summer, against clear, blue skies. The Libra cupcakes who drip with syrupy icing are in the minority. You'll probably get the instant impression that this girl can handle herself nicely in a game of touch and tackle.
She may like to go on long hikes, and spend a lot of time at the library. If not, you can safely wager that she takes long walks, and belongs to a book club. The physical activity and literary leanings are always present. It's just a matter of degree. But there will be long rest periods between the walks or hikes, as she replaces energy with lassitude and lethargy. (That's when she catches up on her reading.)
Your Libra salesman may be studying for a law degree on the side, or he could have a hobby that's practically a second career. He may be a professional in some area outside his job, and have an expert knowledge of deep subjects you never dreamed he would think about. One thing, however, you can be sure he thinks about: Girls. Women. Feminine pulchritude. At least ninety percent of all Libra males subscribe to a Playboy type magazine. Even if he's bashful about it, the Venus man will enjoy a few discreet glances at the pictures of curvy bunnies who are wearing little more than a dazzling, provocative smile. He likes seeing them in person even more, which is why you'll frequently find him following the nightclub circuit, though he may leave after the floor show when the noisy crowds begin to topple his harmony. The happily mated Libran will seldom carry his interest in the opposite sex any farther than obvious visual appreciation, but the single Ones can be real Lotharios.
Librans are always either married, engaged, divorced or in the middle of an important love affair. They never paddle their canoes alone. Echoing across the blue lagoon, you can always hear the stealthy footsteps of a squaw or a brave in the Libran's lodge at eventide, under the pale moon. For every Libra Hiawatha, there's a maiden, and you can reverse it.
Keep your lovely, pretty Libra girls and your handsome, gentle Libra men happy with piped-in music while they work. Don't ever shout at them, and be sure you always give them logical reasons for doing things. Respect their intelligence, because they'll have more of it than the average person, and never subject them to tension.
If they're treated right, your Libra employees will never cause friction in the office; they'll be angels of tact and diplomacy, getting along with almost everyone. The
Venus worker brings his own personal aura of grace and beauty to everything he touches. Let him help you with sales strategy, and encourage him to attend the top brass brainstorming meetings. Might as well let him get the hang of how the executive level operates, because Libra is a cardinal sign, and he won't be an employee without status forever. He wants to lead, and he's well-qualified. As soon as you can, put him in charge of something, then watch how effortlessly be handles red tape, petty grievances, knotty problems and bottlenecks. He'll dress like a man of distinction, and behave like one, too. He's great for company image. As for her, a Venus woman will get what she wants eventually, in her own sweet way. If it's a promotion she wants, let her have it. She probably won't let you down. There's quite a smart head on those shapely shoulders. Why not take advantage of it?
Your Libra employee may have a little trouble making up his mind at times. His train of thought never runs at breakneck speed when the destination is a decision, but it seldom goes off the track. After he's finally pulled into the Station, he'll probably have the right answer, even if it was like watching a two-headed giraffe do his bending exercises to get it out of him.
Librans are extremely artistic and musically inclined, with a flair for law and a philosophical bent. They bring their calming influence most often to hospitals, show business, publishing companies, the halls of science, courtrooms, gardens, politics, department stores, interior decorating and the ministry. But regardless of where you find them spreading harmony, the Libran thermostat will usually read about seventy degrees Fahrenheit. It seldom plunges to freezing or rises to scorching. It's like having a human air conditioner in the office, with automatic repair service when it breaks down. You don't get guarantees like that from the mechanical kind. You say machines can't talk back? Well, that's true, but on the other hand-now wait a minute-stop weighing everything I say, back and forth. You sound like a Libra!
"The horror of that moment," the King went on,
"1 shall never, never forget!"
"You will though," the Queen said,
"if you don't make a memorandum of it"