I'm sure you've dealt with individuals who have caused
you to be so frustrated that afterwards you scratch your
head asking "Am I crazy?" Most likely you just had an
encounter with a passive-aggressive person. Such
encounters may include sarcasm, shifting blame, saying
one thing while meaning another to name a few. For
instance, I used to know a co-worker who was very
skilled at giving back-handed compliments such as "You
look great! You must be doing something different" as
well as sarcasm disguised as a compliment "Oh, I hear you've managed to pull off another miracle." The problem with these kinds of comments is that if you try to
confront them about the insult, you will be accused of
not understanding, "I didn't mean it that way" or of
misinterpreting, "You must have a problem to think that.
I was just trying to compliment you. Sorry I didn't word
it right to suit you." As a result, you end up looking
like the bad guy, feeling frustrated, and asking
yourself, "Am I crazy?" And the other person walks away
blameless.
READ MORE: page 2
Introduction--page 1
What is
passive-aggressive behavior?--page 2
Catagories of
passive-aggressive people.--page 3
Types of
passive-aggressive behavior.--page 4
How do you handle
passive-aggressive people?--page 5
Copyright © 2010 by
Excel At Life, LLC.
Permission to reprint this article for non-commercial use is granted if it includes this entire copyright
and an active link.
"By better understanding how conflict
and anger arise, and practicing handling such
conflict in an assertive way, it can become far less
intimidating and be an aspect of work you can learn
to manage rather than have it manage you."
CONFLICT IN THE WORKPLACE?
By Brett Hart, Ph.D.
One rarely sees David and Susan more than a few feet
from each other at work. The thought of Susan increases
David’s heart rate, while Susan’s thoughts do likewise
every time David is near. The way they look into one
another’s eyes tells their co-workers, “You don’t really
belong here.” Even their boss feels a bit awkward when
the heat between them borders on the inappropriate.
A passionate relationship beginning to bloom? No. David
and Susan are two co-workers locked in what seems to be
an incurable conflict at work. Their situation
illustrates how conflict can affect us at our job.
Conflict may not only take a toll on our physical body
(as it did on David’s racing heart), but it often
occupies our thoughts and causes us a great deal of
emotional distress. As we saw in the situation with
David and Susan, conflictual behavior impacts not only
those involved in the conflict, but also those who have
no part in it. As most of us spend approximately
one-third of our adult lives in the workplace, conflict
in this setting can’t be easily dismissed as
unimportant. In fact, failing to address such conflict
may have implications for our “non-working” lives. As a
result, it becomes important for each of us to
understand how conflict arises in the workplace, and
what steps we can take to deal with such conflict.
Introduction.--page 1
What causes conflict
at work?--page 2
Understanding and
handling anger in the workplace.--page 3
Copyright © 2010 by
Excel At Life, LLC.
Permission to reprint this article for non-commercial use is granted if it includes this entire copyright
and an active link.
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