One Sure Way To Overcome a Difficult Personality!

Sounds simple … because it is!

An insecure manager hiding behind his monitor — created with ChatGPT

Have you ever had to work with a difficult personality?

Have you got yourself stuck trying to make progress with an individual?

Do you lie awake at night overthinking tactics to get past obstructive personalities?

You are not alone!

In this story I’ll walk you through a simple but effective method I use when working with difficult people.

Before we get to the approach, we need to understand an important factor.

Everyone has some level of insecurity.

In a work situation, this comes out in many ways. some of the more obvious ones are:

• Defensiveness of their position — I’ve been here over “X” years! — meaning, “Stay in your lane, bucko! I know more than you do!”
• Putting others down — He/She/They aren’t that skilled; so they need me!
• Managing your activities/behaviour — though they are not your manager. For instance, they’ll be slightly late to meetings, just to make you wait and keep a level of control.

Even leaders and managers who have been in their role a long time can feel insecure. Sometimes they are…