We all have them: business colleagues, bosses, family members or friends who, for whatever reason, are “difficult” people to get along with. Let’s face it, they push our buttons, and these folks can turn a perfectly good day into stress, frustration or inferiority with a dismissive look or caustic remark.
As with all things “people” the only person you have control over and can change is yourself.
Here are six steps to help you maintain perspective.
- Learn to ignore annoying and / or irrelevant comments. Don’t continually relive and replay unintentional hurtful or mean comments or actions; let them go.
- Choose (if possible) when you will expose yourself to a known offender.
- Make communication simple and to the point when communicating with someone who has the potential to derail you.
- Identify before interacting with your difficult person what your response(s) will be, and don’t let yourself be pulled off track by emotional responses.
- Learn to rephrase your ideas for clarity. Miscommunication is at the heart of many people’s frustrations.
- Adapt. Sometimes people are difficult for us to work with simply because we don’t try to understand and/or adapt to their style. You may want them to change their style for you, but in fact, it will actually increase your value as a leader and communicator if you can learn to adapt yourself to others.
Learning how to manage yourself first, will make you an asset wherever you go. Please share any other techniques you have found useful for managing the difficult people in your life.
* Photo credit: istockphoto
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