Ten Ways To Deal With Difficult People
A while ago, I had to deal with a very difficult person, who told me outright that she didn’t like my artwork.
This particular person had commissioned me to do a portrait of her dog, and when I sent her a progress picture, she turned around and told me that it looked nothing like her dog, and she refused to pay me, in spite of my telling her that I had spent over twenty hours working on it.
This really knocked my confidence, and I spent a long time trying to get myself back to creating.
I’m not writing this to try and get sympathy. The thing is, it got me thinking about how I deal with difficult people.
So, I came up with these ten techniques to help in dealing with difficult people, like her.
1) DON’T RISE TO THEM.
Firstly, don’t get into an argument with them. Oftentimes, this is what they want, and all it does is add kindling to the fire.
When this happened with my customer, I took a few days before I responded to her message, and allowed myself a chance to calm down and think about what it was I wanted to say to her.
2) KEEP CALM.
This is so important. The last thing a volatile situation needs is for you to come back at the person in such a way that the disagreement could escalate.
If this happens to you, take a few deep breaths. Count to ten, if you need to, before you respond. It can sometimes really be that simple.
3) THINK BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING.
What is it that you really want to get across to the other person in this situation? It can be so easy to say the first thing that comes into your head, but this isn’t necessarily always the best thing to say. Just give yourself a few minutes to actually be clear on what you want to say.
4) DON’T GIVE THEM ANY AMMUNITION.
This is a biggie. Sometimes you come across people that are almost begging for a fight. They can seem to take even the most innocent of comments and turn them into something that needs to be argued about. The best thing you can do here is to remain neutral. Don’t let them have anything…
