Peer Support’s Post

28 Credentials of Entrepreneur Mastering the Art of Working with Difficult People In the world of work, you’re almost guaranteed to encounter difficult people at some point in your career. Whether it’s a colleague who constantly undermines your efforts, a supervisor who’s never satisfied, or a client who seems impossible to please, dealing with difficult people can be challenging. However, it’s an essential skill to develop because, in most cases, you can’t simply avoid these interactions. In this blog, we’ll explore strategies for effectively working with difficult people, turning these potentially stressful encounters into opportunities for personal and professional growth. Understanding Difficult People Before delving into strategies, it’s crucial to understand that people are difficult for various reasons, including: Different Communication Styles: Individuals may have different ways of expressing themselves, leading to misunderstandings or conflicts. Personality Clashes: Sometimes, personality clashes occur due to conflicting values, beliefs, or approaches to work. Stress and External Factors: Personal stressors or external pressures can lead people to act out or be difficult to work with. Insecurity or Fear: Some people use difficult behavior as a defense mechanism to hide their insecurities or fear of failure. Lack of Empathy or Awareness: Some individuals simply lack self-awareness and empathy, making it challenging for them to consider others’ perspectives. Now that we’ve identified some potential reasons behind difficult behavior let’s explore strategies to effectively work with such individuals. Stay Calm and Composed: When faced with a difficult person, the first step is to maintain your composure. Avoid responding emotionally or reacting impulsively. Take a deep breath, step back mentally, and give yourself a moment to think before responding. Listen Actively: Try to understand the underlying issues driving their behavior. Actively listening to their concerns can help you find common ground or identify potential solutions to the problem at hand. Empathize: Put yourself in their shoes. Sometimes, acknowledging their feelings or concerns can de-escalate a situation. Demonstrating empathy can also help build rapport. Set Boundaries: If their behavior is crossing boundaries or becoming abusive, it’s crucial to assertively communicate your limits. Be firm but polite about what you find unacceptable. Use “I” Statements: When addressing issues, use “I” statements to express your feelings and needs without blaming or accusing. For example, say, “I feel frustrated when deadlines are consistently missed” rather than “You always miss deadlines.” Seek Common Goals: Identify shared objectives or goals. Emphasize how working together can benefit both parties and the organization as a whole. #28coe #28coeproudmember https://lnkd.in/d_-6BNtF

BLUF: Personal quality assurance measures and high standards are necessary for any professional, but there are downsides…. If you know me, you know that I can stay hyper-fixated on an encounter after meeting with someone or delivering a project. There are times when this has impacted my sleep or have overly occupied my mind while on vacation. I pick apart everything that was said or done, in my mind, as an effort to ensure both the customer and I walk away happy…. …and I need to stop… Not stop worrying about the quality of my work or the level of professionalism I bring to my organization and teams, but stop worrying. My years as a #projectmanager and developing networks with #mentors have helped me codify personal techniques that ensure my internal quality checks compliment those for the #project I’m working on.

❓ Do you trust people? ❓ Do people trust you? In both our personal and professional lives, trust is the cornerstone that supports strong relationships, effective collaboration, and meaningful achievements. It's more than a nice-to-have quality; it's a fundamental building block for any successful endeavor. Read more on the "trust equation" and how to cultivate (and erode) trust >> #notesfromthefield #careermentor #trust

If you are not following the Search Inside Yourself page - you need to. This group provides practical guidance to having a better and more balanced work experience. This article is full of advice that is backed by research. Take a look and let me know what you think. #namaste #betterworkexperience #teamwork

Trust Is Key To Success At Work

Professional boundaries - understanding where one's professional role with colleagues and clients start and end? Professional boundaries require having a clear understanding of the difference between the work you are paid to do and the work you want to do. Avoid boundary transgressions by developing clarity about your professional role and ask the questions - What was the purpose of that intervention and Whose needs are being met?

𝗔 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 & 𝙄𝙘𝙚: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 & 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 Diversity matters only up to the extent that we are comfortable with the differences, right?  Otherwise, we can't blend complete opposites to work together? Not entirely.  Let me tell you of the tale of how I appreciated having opposites on my team. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙘𝙚*, who were both part of an inherited team.  (This is quite common, we don't often get the chance to select and build our own team from scratch. Often, we inherit them.) Nobody could see the synergies.   I decided not to focus on the sharp mismatch and to concentrate on: • Deciding the strategy and vision for the team (they had been fragmented for a while before this)    • Explore each of their development needs and guided their portfolio to focus on the key soft skills and exposure they wanted to develop. As is obvious, 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦's updates were vibrant, always excited on successful external conversations or passionate when reporting on challenges.  𝘐𝘤𝘦 was overly measured, too cool for school, given very simple short light answers.  I wasn't quite sure if they had ever been seen as "one team". Things got stretched as new challenges arose with the pandemic and I couldn't see them while in a different country. Then one day I received an angry email that my team had gone behind another team's back to his / her boss claiming backlog issues. Despite being remote for a while, I was sure my team weren't political tattle-tales.  𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 was all up in arms about being falsely accused.  I stepped in. After a few calls to various parties involved, it was resolved and the source of misunderstanding was uncovered after I called the offended teammate. I later learnt that 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 was up in arms, while 𝘐𝘤𝘦 was chill and was holding 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 back so I could investigate first.  𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦's passion also got to 𝘐𝘤𝘦 as well, who was clearer in his opinion to me about not being pleased with being falsely accused.  Both areas help me piece the situation quickly. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵; 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. I could not be prouder of those two of that incident, and from then on, they flourished well. Have you had the experience of having completely opposite personalities in your team? What worked and what didn't? #teammanagement #notliketheother 📷: Nepal, warming up by the fire -------------------------------------------- 👋 For #leadership , #navigatingchange, #possibilities #redefininglimits  & #keepingitreal >> follow Andrea T.  #undilutedbyAT

10 Ways To Be Professional 🌎 Acting like a professional means doing what it takes to make others think of you as reliable, respectful, and competent. Depending on where you work and the type of job you have, this can take on many different forms. There are, however, quite a few common traits when it comes to being professional. This includes the following: 1. Competence. You’re good at what you do – and you have the skills and knowledge that enable you to do your job well. 2. Reliability. People can depend on you to show up on time, submit your work when it’s supposed to be ready, etc. 3. Honesty. You tell the truth and are upfront about where things stand. 4. Integrity. You are known for your consistent principles. 5. Respect For Others. Treating all people like they matter is part of your approach. 6. Self-Upgrading . Rather than letting your skills or knowledge become outdated, you seek out ways of staying current. 7. Being Positive. No one likes a constant pessimist. Having an upbeat attitude and trying to be a problem-solver makes a big difference. 8. Supporting Others. You share the spotlight with colleagues, take time to show others how to do things properly, and lend an ear when necessary. 9. Staying Work-Focused. Not letting your private life needlessly have an impact on your job, and not spending time at work attending to personal matters. 10. Listening Carefully. People want to be heard, so you give people a chance to explain their ideas adequately.

Maybe our answer is usually yes, but it is yes because we can create the strategy to achieve the goal. Yes, with substance. Want to talk about the ideas you want someone to say yes to? Book here: https://lnkd.in/ez95WCBM