Dealing with Difficult People-Empathy

Genuine and sincere empathy, either situational or emotional, will go a great way to diffuse a difficult person. Always listen for queues in which you can provide empathy and never compare to any situation you have experienced. Also add the use of the person’s name during this step.

• After Listening, We Must Apply Empathy and Understanding to Difficult People
• Empathy is Relating to People Either Situationally or Emotionally
• Situational Empathy is You Have Experienced the Same Thing
• Emotional Empathy is You Have Experienced the Emotion

And never, ever, use comparative empathy when you directly compare someone’s experience to yours. A real empathy killer.

Dealing with Difficult People-Listening

The first, and most important step, in dealing with difficult people is to listen to them. Complete and uninterrupted listening is needed to remove the emotionalism and allow you the space to provide solutions later. Creating boundaries is also needed to keep the interactions civil and acceptable.

• Listening is a Critical Element of Dealing with Difficult People
• Listening Must be Focused and Uninterrupted
• Avoid Jumping In to Fix
• Keep Boundaries and Don’t Accept Abuse in Listening
• Sometimes Listening is All That is Required