Managing difficult people requires both skill and persistence. In reality, managing and supervising people in general also requires many skills and much patience and determination.
MANAGING DIFFICULT PEOPLE AND THE 12 STEPS YOU NEED
In the previous difficult people post we talked about the article on managing difficult people and the importance of preparation and planning. I want to expand a little more on each of the 12 steps from this article.
Let’s start with the first 2 important steps and we’ll examine the other steps in further blog posts.
STEP 1 IN LISTENING WITH BOTH YOUR EYES AND EARS
In previous blog posts we’ve discussed listening with your eyes. Yet many people still do not understand just how important this skill is in handling difficult people. If you were to ask, “what should I concentrate on more – the words someone is saying or their body language?”. The answer is always to focus more on their body language because this makes up over 70% to 80% of how human beings communicate. So listen with your eyes to the body language of the other person. It will tell you so much more about the true meaning behind the words that another person is using. Work on becoming a listener with your eyes.
STEP 2 IN DECIDING TO NOT IGNORE IT ALL
When dealing with conflict, a large number of people hope that it all just goes away. They attempt to use an approach that is based on the idea that if I ignore it, then it will eventually go away. This does not often happen. Most often ignoring the conflict and difficult people in your life makes the situation much worse. Tension, stress, anger and anxiety builds up over time and makes the whole process more intense and eventually boils over. So no matter how much you would like to avoid handling difficult people – don’t. Decide now to no longer ignore conflict situations and develop a plan on how you are going to go about dealing with difficult people. Really ignorance is certainly not bliss in handling difficult people.
MORE IN DEALING WITH PEOPLE
In the next post we’ll explore more of ideas and steps for you in managing difficult people, whether they are found in your personal or working life.
