Admit it that there are some people that are harder to deal with. Difficult people are tiresome for they are grumpy and always have something to complain about.
Difficult people can never be pleased, they are not wired the same way as regular people. You are probably thinking of someone right now.
Many would agree that aggressive people are arguably the most difficult type of people to work with. According to Gill Hasson’s book entitled “How to Deal with Difficult People,” there are two types of difficult people.
They are the:
Openly hostile and aggressive – This type of aggressive people is openly pushy and can easily intimidate people. They are often loud and use strength to coerce other people to have their way.
Passively aggressive – This type of aggressive people, on the other hand, does not do the dirty work and often work behind the scenes with vested interest. They have leadership skills and make others follow their orders.
No matter which type of aggressive behavior you have to deal with, aggressive people can easily ruin one’s day. Limit the negative impact of aggressive people in your life by following these set of techniques and strategies.
Dealing with openly-aggressive
1. Be clear – It is important that you draw a line with aggressive difficult people. Tell them how you want to be treated and do not allow them to treat you otherwise. If the openly-aggressive person upsets you, tell them that he offended you.
2. Meet them in a neutral location – In a workplace, openly-aggressive people could be hard to work with; however, you still have to work with them. Arrange a meeting in a neutral location with an impartial third party to bring up the issues you want to discuss that may impede a smooth working relationship.
3. Compose yourself at all times – If an openly-aggressive person makes you angry or upset, do not fight back with anger or use verbal attacks for it will only add fuel to the fire. Take deep breaths and count to ten to compose yourself. This is to make sure that you do not do or say something you will regret afterward.
4. Vent anger through other activities – It is bad for one’s health to hold back anger. Create an outlet for your pent-up anger like vigorous exercise, cleaning, or a relaxing, calming activity like yoga or painting.
Dealing with passive aggressive
1. Meet them head on – The best strategy to deal with passive aggressive is to bring their misbehavior out in the open and discuss what seems to be the problem.
2. Do not approve of their misbehavior – Passive aggressive people crave for attention and approval from others, however, they feel incompetent.
3. Do not take the bait – Passive aggressive people have an undeniable pattern, their actions and words do not match. For example, when a passive-aggressive person says “thank you” but does not sound pleased, just answer “you’re welcome”.
4. Be assertive – One of the characteristics of a passive aggressive person is being avoidant. Do not beat around the bush and tell them how you feel.
While these strategies will help you in dealing with difficult people in your life, it is also worth it to take a look at yourself and reflect whether you are a people-pleaser type of person, which could be the reason why difficult people swarm you.
Dealing with difficult people does not mean you have to drive them away; it is about knowing how to handle their behavior so they will not be able to take advantage of you, which is another form of care.