Working with Difficult People

Difficult people are the ones who:

• Make us lose our cool
• Force us to do things we don't want to do
• Prevent us from doing what we want or need to do
• Use coercion or manipulation to get their way
• Make us feel guilty if we don't "go along"
• Make us feel anxious, upset, frustrated, depressed, jealous, inferior or defeated
• Make us do their share of the work.

Objectives

Here is what you’ll be able to do when you have successfully completed this module:

1. Identify behavior patterns associated with “types” of difficult people.
2. Describe a model for explaining human behavior in terms of meeting basic intents.
3. Explain the behavior of difficult people using the model of meeting basic intents.
4. Give examples of several communication skills useful in working with difficult people and others.
5. Describe strategies for working with difficult people.

Additional Resources

"Personality Test"

Understand yourself and others better by taking a temperament sorter. These assessments give clues to the client's personality that help the client not only in setting your career goals, but in relating to supervisors, co-workers, parents, children, spouses, friends. You may have come across assessments like these with names like "Meyers-Briggs," or "Kiersey Bates;" The psychological theory behind these instruments is attributed to Carl Jung.