You can't make other people less difficult. So your challenge every day is to deal more effectively with the difficult people you meet.
MANAGING YOUR EMOTIONS AROUND DIFFICULT PEOPLE
ou can't make other people less difficult. So your challenge every day is to deal more effectively with the difficult people you meet. To do this effectively, you need to manage your emotions when interacting with the people around you. But how do you know when it's time to step in and actively manage your emotions? There are a number of warning responses that act as "red flags" and that you should pay attention to.
The first warning sign is feeling angry or responding in an angry way to a difficult person. You might find yourself saying things like, "who does she think she is?", or "she has no idea what she's asking!" The second warning sign is feeling adamant in your response to a difficult encounter. This kind of response stops you exploring if there is another way of viewing the situation that might ultimately be beneficial to you. So take note if you hear yourself saying something like, "absolutely not, no way!", or "that's easy for him to say."
The third warning sign is finding yourself being shocked by an insult. When that happens, you might hear yourself say, "excuse me, did he just say what I thought he said?", or "I cannot believe she just said that!" The fourth warning sign is feeling edgy and impatient in relation to someone else's behavior. When you feel like that, you might say, "is he ever going to get that done?", or "what is wrong with him?"
The fifth warning sign is getting annoyed or being irked by someone else's behavior. So watch out if you hear yourself making comments like, "that's ridiculous", or "that will never work." The sixth and final warning sign is fearing the hostile behavior of another person. When you're fearful, you might say, "I'm so afraid of the repercussions of that", or "I dread my next meeting with him."
When you feel like responding in any of these ways, it's important to recognize that you're actually engaged in negative self-talk. Negative self-talk often makes the situation you're dealing with even worse. It usually creates – and prolongs – negative emotions and stress. It's self-defeating and unnecessary. So next time you're involved in a touchy interaction with a difficult person, take a moment before you say anything. Examine your instinctual emotional reactions. And then focus on managing any negative self-talk.
I have been teaching and training agents, team leaders, supervisors, managers and admins of call centers and other businesses in BPO related field. This series, comes as a result of that experience. I have more than 4,000 modules that I plan on sharing here. This is # 001-04
