How smart leaders deal with difficult people

From conflict to collaboration 

This masterclass shares theories, models and tools that give you the potential to transform the outcome of any tough conversation from anger, frustration or hurt feelings into powerful dialogue.

While leadership can be incredibly rewarding, when dealing with a very difficult colleague or staff member it can also be incredibly challenging and stressful, consuming a disproportionate amount of your time and energy. Even the most experienced leaders can be tempted to avoid the conflict involved in dealing with difficult people.

However, conflict is inevitable in the workplace.  At a time when there is a call for innovation in the way organisations deliver services and products, positive conflict can lead to the creation of new ways of working.  Conversely, interpersonal conflict leads to disengagement, disconnection and silos.

In this masterclass we explore ways of dealing with difficult people at work, regardless of what lies behind their behaviour:

• The bright and dark side of personality
• Dealing with unreasonable, high conflict people
• Conflict styles
• Self-leadership: surviving difficult conversations
• Moving away from traditional leadership conversations to engaging in dialogue based on collaboration and partnership