Difficult People

  1. Why do you need to know how to deal with difficult people?
  2. Characteristics of difficult people
  3. Types of difficult people
  4. How to deal with difficult people?


We interact with people every day, and some of them, let’s say it, are difficult to handle.
Difficult people’s behaviors have a negative impact on our brains and diminish our quality of life dramatically.
We need to know how to detect, process, and deal with a different types of difficult people to protect our quality of life.

Conversation between A and B about difficult-people. B: We need to know how to deal with difficult people to protect our quality of life

There are many characteristics of difficult people, here are the most common difficult people characteristics:

  • Lack of empathy
  • Self-centered
  • Pose as victims
  • Whining
  • Good at blaming
  • Expert in gossiping

Conversation between A and B about the characteristics of difficult people. A: My coworker stresses me out B: Is he a difficult person? A: How do I know that? B: Well, here are the common characteristics of difficult people B: Lack of empathy, self-centered, pose as victims, whining, good at blaming and gossiping.

There are many types of difficult people that we deal with daily at home, work, school, gym, street, etc. Here are the most common types of difficult people:

Slacker Manipulator Grenade
Whiner Psychopath No person
Maybe person Nothing person Gossiper
Yes man Delegator Naysayer


Knowing how to deal with difficult people is a handy skill. There are many tactics to deal with difficult people depending on your relationship with the person and the type of difficulty. However, no matters the situation, keep in mind to always separate the people from their behavior: it is not the person; it is the behavior.

Example of inclusive language

Use inclusive language to influence people positively and bring them.

Conversation between A and B about the inclusive language to deal with difficult-people. A: I hate the purple B: Why? A: I told him that he doesn’t communicate, so he got offended. A: In this case, you should have used inclusive language. B: What? How? B: Something like “We are having trouble communicating”

Example of dealing with the delegator:

The delegating or the master delegator keeps burdening their coworkers or team members without considering their workload.

Conversation between A and B about how to deal with the delegator. A: My boss is a jerk B: Why? A: He keeps delegating tasks to me with no consideration for my workload B: Make him aware of your workload A: how? B: Show him your asks’ list, then ask: How should we prioritize the new task?

Example of changing behavior:

Sometimes you have to change your mindset and control your feeling to have a piece of mind.

Conversation between A and B about changing your behavior to deal with difficult-people. A: I hate the red; he irritates me B: Well, you have to change your mindset and control your feelings A: He is the problem, not me B: It is hard to change people’s behavior, and his behavior is badly affecting you B: So the most effective option is to change your mindset and control your feelings