What are your assumptions about difficult people at work? Considering their possible motivations can change your perspective.

This article follows the Direct Message methodology, designed to cut through the noise and reveal the deeper truths behind the stories we live. When I began studying how workplace culture impacts ...

No matter where you work or what your role is, at some point, you’re going to encounter a difficult person. Maybe it is a colleague who constantly interrupts, a micromanaging supervisor, a ...

I've got a difficult person in my professional life. No, it's not you. But, for a long time, I was stressed out every time I had to work with this person. I'd feel nervous before our conversations and ...

These six books can help ease tensions. By Louisa Kamps Earlier in my career, I worked for a hot-tempered woman who, according to an office rumor, had thrown a shoe at one of my predecessors. Rattled ...

Decorum and civility are under attack at the office and on the shop floor, according to the latest statistics from the ...

Carol was deeply disappointed. She had hired someone she thought would be a superstar for her team—the peanut butter to her jelly—only to face one difficult interaction after another. It seemed like ...

Workplaces need people who are willing to speak up. The key is to do it in a way that positions you as a problem-solver, not just a critic. A senior analyst at a financial firm once shared that she ...

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