Dealing with Difficult People

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Dealing with Difficult People

By: David Korn

Almost everyone has come across someone who is difficult in their lives. Even the people we are closest to can become increasingly difficult. Since we are complex beings, there are so many factors that lead to being difficult. The two factors that seem to work best are the Socratic Method and the old adage: “Kill them with kindness.”

The Socratic Method is a way of inquiring. You ask many questions to the person in order to seek out more information. While the person is answering, there may be phrases that are misconstrued. As a result, this makes the person rethink. Answer any questions they may have. In addition, try to offer immediate solutions to their problem. That way they see you are taking a proactive stance in trying to help them.

Being polite to a difficult person can go a long way. If you are polite with them time and time again, they will begin to mellow out. The idea is to act friendly, be helpful, respond in a courteous tone, and use correct language. You don’t want to offend the person or seem defensive. Sometimes it helps to even agree with one or two points in order to create a solution.

If nothing works over time, the best thing to do is to leave that person. If this is not possible, then keep applying the methods above over and over until they get tired of bickering you. Eventually they may feel bad about hurting your feelings since you are playing the angel and they are being seen as the devil. Nothing is guaranteed to work but these methods will help you to steer clear of the majority of difficult people.