Powerful Phrases for Dealing With Difficult People

You began your conversation with an “I” phrase and a phrase of understanding. You may or may not have felt the need to apologize. You then incorporated phrases of compromise during your discussion and, after reaching agreement, followed up with a phrase of resolution. Before ending the discussion, take one more step and say something about the valu

When you confront someone who's done something that bugs you, keep the focus on “I” rather than on “you.”

Chapters 4 and 5 describe 20 challenging coworker behaviors and 10 challenging personality types of bosses.

The number one rule when resolving conflict is never to open a conversation with the word you.

Saying I'm sorry doesn't necessarily mean saying you're wrong. Saying I'm sorry means you're the one who's taking responsibility for resolving the conflict and mending the relationship.

It's a good idea to restate the resolution just in case you misinterpreted what you and your coworker agreed

When you're willing to cooperate, others will be more apt to cooperate with you. When you're open to listening, others will be more apt to listen to you.

“I have something I want to talk to you about. Yesterday during our meeting, I became upset when I was in the middle of my presentation and you disagreed with what I was saying. That really threw me off track for the rest of my presentation.”

Open the conversation with an “I” statement describing how the event affected you, and you'll come across in a more constructive manner.