Working Women Wednesday - How to Deal with Challenging Personalities

by Granny Girl

In the workplace we are surrounded by all sorts of personalities.  Some are easy to work with, some are not.  My work experience has always been in commercial real estate, assisting brokers.   Because brokers work on commission only, a successful one is very driven and hard working. Here are a few things I have learned:

1. Generally speaking, men are easier to work with than women. They know how to check their emotions at the door and focus on the job that needs to be done. 
2. Type A people tend to have a short fuse, but they usually don’t hold a grudge.  If you can deal with the occasional explosion (unless it’s abusive in nature), then this type of person is someone you can learn from because of their drive and hard charging ways.
3. Keep your personal problems away from the work place.  If you’re going through something that you need to talk about then take a workplace friend out to lunch and talk then.  You can let people at work know if you’re dealing with something big if it’s affecting your attendance or your focus, but when you’re at work, be at work.
4. If you work full time, you spend more waking hours at work than you do at home. Nurture a sense of family and camaraderie among your work friends so your time there will be edifying to both you and them.
5. If there is someone at work who is truly mean spirited, keep your distance as much as possible.  Don’t let yourself slip into their negative ways of speech or behavior.  Although it’s very, very hard, pray for them.  The Bible says to pray for your enemies, so just do it.   If the mean person is your boss then pray for deliverance also.
6. I have noticed that people like to be treated the same way they treat others.  If they are confrontational, confront them right back (nicely).  If they are passive aggressive, then never give them a direct answer.  Just keep nudging things forward in the same manner they are using. 
7. If you think that someone is untrustworthy and will throw you under the bus, you are probably right.   Be wary and wise around this type of person.
8. I’m not sure if this tip is constructive or just something that made me feel better, but whenever someone is demanding and rude I put them at the bottom of the priority list.  

That’s all I have for now.    Please share any work lessons you’ve learned from working with difficult challenging people.