I want you to think about the most difficult person you have ever had to work beside.  Mine was Linda (I will keep her real name private). Oh Linda, Linda, Linda. She was the person who never wanted to do the work, but always wanted to receive praise.  She would show up at the end of projects to stamp her name on other people’s work. She was habitually late and complained about everything- she was exhausting.

I was in my first ‘real’ job when Linda was a part of my day so I didn’t handle her apathetic attitude very well…at all.

I gossiped about her, talked about her behind her back and complained to anyone who would listen. I wish I would have had some wisdom at the time about how to handle someone like Linda.

We all have a Linda  in our lives or if we don’t now, probably will at some point.  I wanted to get some of the best advice in the industry on how to deal with impossible co-workers and the Productive Dentist Academy came to the rescue.

 

Christine Uhen, Productive Dentist Academy Coach deflects the mean girls attitude by reminding herself “we ALL have bad days, and that when I have a bad day, I hope my co-workers understand, and treat me with some extra TLC.”

 

Brenda Barbour, Assistant PDA Coach gets herself spiritually strong for challenging situations. She says that due to her daily spiritual readings, her mantra to herself when someone is being impossible has become: “Bren, DO NOT ENGAGE.”  She says. “Once I removed my ‘responding’ energy from the situation calmness did happen!”

 

Vicki McManus, Founder of the PDA takes another approach to dealing with difficult people.  She says that instead of thinking of you as an employee, just a cog in the wheel at work, see yourself as an intrapreneur. What is the difference you may ask?

 

Employees	Intrapreneurs
Do as they are told	Look for ways to contribute
Not expected to understand the business	Knows how profits are generated
Seeks roles where they don’t have to think	Seeks roles that stretch their comfort zone
One out of three employees report work as the place to socialize and gossip	“Customers” include boss, co-workers and consumers

 

As an intrapreneur YOU are responsible for treating co-workers (even the ones that get under your skin) like they are your customer.  When you reframe your role you open yourself up to opportunity.  Vicki goes on to say: “Self-accountability for words and actions eliminates the need to blame others for your success or failure.  Even small steps toward independent thinking build confidence over time.”

So, the next time Judy starts to gossip about Julie or Dan shows up late for the 4^th time in a week, think about these 3 options.

Remember:

• Everybody has bad days, offer those around you space.

• If you are at the end of your rope, repeat the mantra “I will not engage” and see if things pass.

• See yourself at all times as an independent thinking intrapreneur. Treat those impossible people the same way you would treat an impossible customer: with professionalism.