Manipulators in everyday life are not necessarily bad people. You might admire or even love a manipulator (they are frequently found in family contexts), but feel tormented by their constant conniving. I’ve dealt with a variety of difficult people over recent weeks, like the needy, controlling and aggressive, or the disrespectful, moody and procrastination-prone, but for many of […]
What a hot topic. Everyone seems to be handling a difficult person — whether it is a staff member, team colleague, customer or their manager. Or they have a difficult person in their personal lives. Certain types of difficult people affect us more than others. For example: Angry, aggressive, abusive, bullying; Moody, tired, depressed, teary; Uncommitted, unmotivated, […]
“One bad apple don’t spoil the whole bunch, girl” is a puzzling aphorism, but perhaps the Osmonds were just being hopeful. Eighteenth-century inventor Benjamin Franklin saw it the other way — “the rotten apple spoils his companion”. Apples give off ethylene, so as one rots, the others begin to as well, and before you know it, […]
A construction company manager/owner was recently fined $12,500 for appalling bullying and allowing his staff to harass and physically and psychologically abuse a 16-year-old apprentice. The apprentice has suffered emotional trauma and has ongoing anxiety, depression and nightmares. The abuse reportedly included holding hot drill-bits to his skin, scraping sandpaper over his face, making him […]
Do you ever wish certain people would just stop talking? Conversely, if you’re a person who thrives on talk, you may not appreciate the many different “sounds of silence”: musing, the meaningful pause, contemplation, pouting/sulking, brooding, hesitation, day-dreaming …. Quiet is restful, necessary for everyone’s emotional, mental and physical health. It’s useful to understand these […]
Have you ever faced a very aggressive colleague or customer? It’s bad enough on the phone but very scary face-to-face. Ideally every workplace has some rules, standards or a code of conduct to help. Ideally a code and training before is better than mopping up after damage too late. 1. Recognise early warning signs There […]
Every now and then, I hear from clients and friends who experience a bad case of managers missing in action. This AWOL type is seldom there when needed, arrives late, disappears in moments of crisis (certainly when everyone else is under the pump), they don’t say that they’re going off somewhere, their underlings often cover […]
We are all familiar with dealing with utilities and services that purport to ‘value’ calls but then keep customers in a queue for long periods. To cap it off, businesses then have the gall to ask what people think of their ‘service’.? Many complaints, if not handled well, will escalate to a new problem. Whether […]
It can be really tough being a manager, especially if it is your first time. Typically, the first time someone becomes a manager they meet the task with unbridled enthusiasm, but then once they discover that the skills that got them the promotion are different to the skills required to thrive in the role the […]
