Working as a supervisor and in the manufacturing sector. I've come across all types of employees, customers, vendors, and managers. In my experience, most people are understanding and easy to deal with. Although, I've had my run-ins with angry, impatient, and to put it nicely, "schmucks".
How to Handle "Schmucks"
I'm sure that most of you have experienced dealing with a person so nasty that you debated to even deal with that client, employee, or even partner. It's a sad situation but some people can really spoil everything.
Ideally, people would just follow the golden rule, treat others with the respect, patience and kindness we would like to have given to us.
Again, dealing with people is my job and I wanted to share some tips that have helped me deal with "schmucks"
Don't Judge Others
Ever have a bad day? Break up with someone that you've been with for years? Hangry? All of those things can easily change our moods on a daily basis. Don't forget that, and don't be quick to judge someone on a first impression.
What I try to do is to show empathy and understanding that they're probably going through a rough patch at the moment. I usually let 1 or 2 bad episodes slide. However, there is a threshold when it becomes apparent that the individual is harassing you or others.
Make sure you empathize with the individual and removing your own emotions will make you in a much more relaxed individual. There will be times where you get stressed by another, because we are simply human. Most of the time they're not out to hurt you but lashing out because they're hurting on the inside.
Remove yourself
"I'm not a quitter", is a phrase that I say quite often. However, I do understand that there's nothing wrong with throwing in the towel.
It takes experience and time, but knowing when to quit is not complicated. Try to take a bird's eye view of the situation and ask yourself is this worth my time and effort to deal with this person or is it better for my momentum to focus my energy elsewhere.
In my personal experience when I was starting out, I dealt with alot more "schmucks" than I would like. I thought I had to deal with those situations because I needed the business. The reality was if i had passed up on those people and focused on closing with good clients, the referrals and ROI were much greater.
Don't Back Down
Some "Schmucks" are very good at being "schmucks". No matter what you do, never try to take them on at their own game. Most of the time they will win and if you do win you might've become an "schmuck" yourself in other peoples eyes.
If you decide to take them on, make sure you think about it. Document everything possible with as much detail reasonably possible.
When it comes down to a conflict, I usually let the other person know about my feelings and tell them straight up what I'm going to do about it in a calm matter.
A few things I avoid doing is to escalate the situation. One of the more common things that I've seen others do is acting on their impulses and emotions. I highly don't recommend this, this opens you up for mistakes and regret. Fighting back can be a tough thing to do, but the rewards can be great if you control your impulses as long you avoid aggressive confrontation, name calling, and petty retaliation.
How to Handle "Schmucks"
I'm sure that most of you have experienced dealing with a person so nasty that you debated to even deal with that client, employee, or even partner. It's a sad situation but some people can really spoil everything.
Ideally, people would just follow the golden rule, treat others with the respect, patience and kindness we would like to have given to us.
Again, dealing with people is my job and I wanted to share some tips that have helped me deal with "schmucks"
Don't Judge Others
Ever have a bad day? Break up with someone that you've been with for years? Hangry? All of those things can easily change our moods on a daily basis. Don't forget that, and don't be quick to judge someone on a first impression.
What I try to do is to show empathy and understanding that they're probably going through a rough patch at the moment. I usually let 1 or 2 bad episodes slide. However, there is a threshold when it becomes apparent that the individual is harassing you or others.
Make sure you empathize with the individual and removing your own emotions will make you in a much more relaxed individual. There will be times where you get stressed by another, because we are simply human. Most of the time they're not out to hurt you but lashing out because they're hurting on the inside.
Remove yourself
"I'm not a quitter", is a phrase that I say quite often. However, I do understand that there's nothing wrong with throwing in the towel.
It takes experience and time, but knowing when to quit is not complicated. Try to take a bird's eye view of the situation and ask yourself is this worth my time and effort to deal with this person or is it better for my momentum to focus my energy elsewhere.
In my personal experience when I was starting out, I dealt with alot more "schmucks" than I would like. I thought I had to deal with those situations because I needed the business. The reality was if i had passed up on those people and focused on closing with good clients, the referrals and ROI were much greater.
Don't Back Down
Some "Schmucks" are very good at being "schmucks". No matter what you do, never try to take them on at their own game. Most of the time they will win and if you do win you might've become an "schmuck" yourself in other peoples eyes.
If you decide to take them on, make sure you think about it. Document everything possible with as much detail reasonably possible.
When it comes down to a conflict, I usually let the other person know about my feelings and tell them straight up what I'm going to do about it in a calm matter.
A few things I avoid doing is to escalate the situation. One of the more common things that I've seen others do is acting on their impulses and emotions. I highly don't recommend this, this opens you up for mistakes and regret. Fighting back can be a tough thing to do, but the rewards can be great if you control your impulses as long you avoid aggressive confrontation, name calling, and petty retaliation.
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