<ul><li>Understanding the impact of difficult people on our physical and mental health, as well as their effect on workplace productivity.</li><li>Recognizing common archetypes of difficult people and the behaviors associated with them.</li><li>Developing a framework for internal operating and behavioral intelligence to better handle difficult people.</li><li>Learning how to explain behaviors and avoid biases when dealing with difficult people.</li></ul>

Learning Outcomes

<ul><li>We cannot control other people's behaviors, but we can control our own reactions and behaviors when dealing with difficult people.</li><li>Labeling people as "difficult" or other negative terms can create biases and hinder our ability to understand and handle their behaviors.</li><li>Asking questions to better understand a difficult person's behavior can help us develop a more empathetic and effective response.</li><li>Developing behavioral intelligence can help us better predict and influence the behaviors of difficult people.</li></ul>

Key Takeaways

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Our brains have a natural response to difficult people that causes stress and anxiety.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Conflict with difficult people can lead to turnover, absenteeism, and project failures.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">We can change our framework for dealing with difficult people by changing how we label them.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Behavioral intelligence has four quadrants: explaining existing behaviors, predicting future behaviors, influencing others' behaviors, and controlling our own behaviors.</li></ul>

How to Deal with Difficult People | Jay Johnson

<ul><li>Practice self-awareness and recognize physical and emotional signs of stress when interacting with difficult people.</li><li>Reframe the way we label and think about difficult people to avoid negative biases.</li><li>Develop the habit of asking questions to better understand difficult people's motivations and behaviors.</li><li>Learn to predict and influence the behaviors of difficult people by developing behavioral intelligence.</li></ul>

Actionable Insights

From co-workers and colleagues to friends and family, we are faced with challenging relationships daily. Unfortunately, we often go about managing them the wrong way. Only by elevating our understanding of behavior and acting through an internalized approach will we be able to master the conflicts created by dealing with difficult people. Jay Johnson is a trainer specializing in communication and leadership development. Using a unique perspective of behavioral intelligence, Jay empowers people and organizations across the globe stretching from Main Street to Wall Street. Jay is a designated Master Trainer through the Association for Talent Development (ATD). He is a two-time Excellence in Training Award recipient from the National Association of Professional Communication Consultants and in 2017 he was named “Top Trainer” by the ATD Detroit Chapter. Jay has a devotion to teaching and learning, and is passionate about inspiring people to reach peak performance in work and in life. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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