than 14,245 registrants, making it the most popular webinar offered by the organization to date. “Like many professions, CPAs are trained to deal with what’s
logical and rational, but human beings aren’t always that way,” says Maraj, who is the speaker for the webinar. “Our typical management training just doesn’t work when dealing with these types of people.” Maraj says problematic people come in a wide variety of
guises (see “The many faces of difficult people” below) but Sherman Tanks are among the most common. These people bulldoze their way through a conversation and insist on having things done their own way. They will even get personal in their attacks. For tips on how to deal with the Tanks in your life, go to
cpacanada.ca/mag-tanks. Maraj thinks the key to dealing with people who rub us the
wrong way lies in recognizing that they’re oſten embellished ver- sions of ourselves. “They’re just more reliably aggressive or too quiet or too knowing,” he says. “They’re not that far off from the norm, really, because we’re all difficult from time to time.” Here are some ways to take the spikes out of the challenging personalities in your work environment.
Recognize your own triggers “I think the biggest mistake people make is not accounting for their own triggers that are activated by a difficult person,” says Maraj. “Because I have a tendency to be a know-it-all myself, for example, I’m always watching where I might be patronizing with other know-it-alls because they’re triggering me.” He believes if you don’t work on addressing and eliminating your own potential triggers in difficult situations, you’ll be “riddled with difficult people throughout your life.” Richard Martin, a management consultant who is president
and founder of Alcera Consulting in Montreal, says he’ll always look at how a difficult person is interacting with others. “I’ll note if this person is different only with me or only in certain circum- stances,” he says. “If I am the only one who has a problem every time I talk to this employee, maybe I’m causing some of that animosity and conflict.” Martin adds that managers who are dealing with difficult
staff should take a good look at how they reproach their employ- ees. “Are you delivering your criticism in a manner that is effec- tive and helping to mentor them?” he asks. “If you’re always giving negative feedback, employees will either be defensive or shut up like a clam and never talk to you.”
Don’t take it personally Drawing on his 21 years of experience as an infantry officer in the Canadian Army, Martin knows never to assume people want to be problematic, either. “One of my officers was acting very dif- ficult, but it turns out he was taking blood pressure medication that was throwing his system out of whack,” says Martin. “It could always be psychological or other health issues that are causing the behaviour. Or it could be problems at home, finan- cial stress, worries about a sick parent — it could be any number of things.”
42 | CPA MAGAZINE | MAY 2015
Sandy Tam, a Toronto accountant turned wedding photo- grapher, has also come to recognize that other people’s behav- iour doesn’t have much to do with her. “When I first started the business, I would come back crying aſter a long day,” she says. “Now I know my clients have a million reasons why they’re behaving the way they are and all I can do is help guide them along the way.” And what about clients who seem just too demanding or have unreasonable expectations right off the bat? “I tell them I don’t think it will work out,” she says. “I think being honest is best, and if I can set them up with someone who’s a better fit, it works out for all of us.”
Confront the culprit When circumstances don’t allow for a clean break from a dif- ficult person, a confrontation may be the best route. Winnie Johnson, manager of human resources for GE Capital Canada, says avoiding or ignoring an issue with a difficult person can breed resentment and ultimately affect business productivity. Instead, she suggests pulling people aside in the moment and pointing out how their actions are affecting you or the team. “Some people are socially obtuse and really don’t see how their behaviour affects others,” she says. “But they’re open to feedback and will alter their actions accordingly.”
THE MANY FACES OF DIFFICULT PEOPLE
Are you dealing with a challenging personality in your workplace? Here are some of the most common types:
Snipers: they snipe their comments or barbs and pretend they were joking when you call them on it.
Exploders: they rant and rave, using tantrums to get you to back off on a subject they don’t want to deal with.
Clams: they dominate with silence, keeping tight-lipped simply to infuriate you.
Know-it-alls: they use their razor-sharp intellect to overwhelm you with knowledge.
Balloons: unlike real know-it-alls, they lie (often convincingly) about what they know and are essentially full of hot air.
— RS Case in point: Johnson had a coworker who would oſten put
her on the spot in meetings with questions she couldn’t answer right away. “I’m the kind of person who likes to ruminate about something before formulating an opinion, and his approach was making me defensive,” she says. After she spoke to him, they came up with a code word Johnson uses to indicate she needs time to think about her answer. “He really didn’t know it was an issue until I brought it up.” For those unwilling to make changes, it may mean getting HR
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