Dealing with Difficult People-Customers and Team Members
For more on this subject and other great articles in this issue:
Leading Edge – Volume 42 – Difficult People: Customers and Team Members
Category: Leading Edge
Leading Edge – Volume 41 – Difficult People: Responding
Dealing with Difficult People-Responding
For more on this subject and other great articles in this issue:
Leading Edge – Volume 39 – Difficult People: Apologies
Dealing with Difficult People-Apologies
A sincere apology offered to a difficult person can go a long way in helping ease the situation and win them over. At a minimum we need to apologize for what they are feeling and an apology is not an admission of wrongdoing.
- Offering an apology does not imply wrongdoing or error
- An apology is a powerful statement of empathy
- At a minimum, offer an apology for the emotion of the difficult person
- Own the situation by using first person pronouns
- Remember, this is not about you but about diffusing the difficult person
Happy Thanksgiving from Aegis Learning
We are so incredibly thankful for all of you. We appreciate greatly our customers, friends, vendors and program participants and on behalf of the entire team at Aegis Learning, Happy Thanksgiving!
Leading Edge – Volume 38 – Difficult People: Empathy
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.
Leading Edge – Volume 37 – Difficult People: Listening
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
Leading Edge – Volume 36 – Difficult People: Self-Management
Dealing with Difficult People-Self Management
- Managing and Mastering Our Own Reactions Contributes Greatly to Success with Difficult People
- Practice the 3 Second Pause Before Engagement
- Ensure Self-Talk is Positive and Keeps You Calm
- Remember a Reaction will Shift Power to the Difficult Person
Leading Edge – Volume 35 – Dealing with Difficult People
Dealing with Difficult People-Introduction
- Difficult people exist in all facets of our work and life. They can be customers, team members, bosses, peers and family members.
- Not all difficult people can be saved or turned into fans. Our job is to mitigate who we can with a consistent application of skills and self-mastery.
- The cost and risk associated with difficult people is large. Organizational impact can be measured in time and weighted salary dollars dealing with problematic team members and customers.
- The degree of impact we have with difficult people varies by our relationship with them and the role they play in our lives.
Leading Edge – Volume 34 – Mentoring: Summary and Conclusion
Focus on Mentoring-Summary and Conclusion
- Aegis Learning facilitator Matt Zobrist continues his series on mentoring.
- The mentoring focus must always remain on the benefits to the person being mentored and his or her needs.
- Communication is key along with building strong, trusting relationships.
- Successful mentoring will provide organizational benefit, value to the mentee and build a legacy for the mentor.Beginning next week, a new series,
Dealing with Difficult People
debuts featuring Tim Schneider. After that, we will be breaking some new ground with Relational Intelligence. Aegis Learning is committed to provide useable and valuable information to our customers and friends.
Leading Edge – Volume 33 – Mentoring: Overcoming Obstacles
Focus on Mentoring-Overcoming Obstacles
- Aegis Learning facilitator Matt Zobrist continues his series on mentoring.
- The most common obstacle to mentoring is a perceived lack of time. Prioritizing the mentoring process and remembering the long-term value is important to overcome this challenge.
- Unrealistic expectations for both behavioral change and timeline can also be common challenges.
- Working in partnership between the mentor and mentee will ensure that obstacles and challenges are easily overcome.
- Successful mentoring requires an incremental view of growth and not a giant, singular leap forward.