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If you were on Facebook last week you may have seen the talk about Make Difficult People Disappear and the fact that the first off the press copy arrived in my office last week! When I took a look at the contents a surprising and unintended theme appeared that I hadn’t seen before. There are chapters about shifts, maps, and wheels and those are what will help you DRIVE away office difficulty. You still make it disappear mind you, but this happens to be 3 steps to quickly drive that process.
With the SHIFTS chapter the goal is to shift your expectations. What are you expecting from those you lead or work with or live with? Are your expectations of those you call difficult, actually driving their continued difficult behavior? There is an analogy used in the book about seeing a Jack Russell terrier and expecting it to act like and look like a German Shepard. Clearly they don’t act the same, but if you are expecting them to, who’s being difficult, you or the dog..er.. I mean person?
With the MAPS chapter the goal is to see where to take a conversation so that you can improve the relationship or get what you want out of the conversation. Maps work for all parties, so they will benefit from having one, too. A tool, such as the CORE Profile® will give you such a map and guide you on what to say to whom and how and when so that the conversation is in a language they understand and can act on, thus giving you the result you want.. instead of frustration.
With the WHEELS chapter we’re poking a little fun at the overuse of “putting the right people in the right seats on the bus” but also referring to the wheels of motion. You do want to take action and assess team members (even the difficult ones)and make sure you have a right fit, but you have to remember one person can fit many roles and just an assessment alone without some further digging and discovery of the needs of that role and the entire teams gifts, skills, traits, and talents may drive the difficult meter to an all-time high. Taking action is not the same as making hasty ill-informed decisions when it comes to behaviors and job fit.
Need more?
If you’d like to explore Make Difficult People Disappear and what others have said as well as how it might be a valuable tool for your organization, go to MakeDifficultPeopleDisappear.com. You may also find value in sending team members to our Dealing with Difficulty Conference in Orlando, where these issues and more will be a part of the training.
Drive away difficulty or just make it disappear. Whatever method you use to rid yourself of the stress and internal office conflict a leader often deals with daily, the point is to get folks on the same page, get what you want and need out of your relationships in work and life, help them get what they want and need, and focus on leading effectively.
Have a great Monday, an even better week and of course, stay contagious!
Monica
