1. Managing Challenging Situations and People Sue E. Williams, Ph.D. Renée A. Daugherty, Ph.D. Family Policy & Leadership Leadership & Educational Development Specialist Methods Specialist A Leadership Development Module

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3. 3 “To support my position, let’s look at some facts.”

4. 4 Trust me. It’ll be great! Terrific! You’ll see… It’ll work!

5. 5 There ARE better methods of persuasion.

6. 6 Communication  Words, at best, are only 7% effective  Tone of voice = 23%  Actions of body and face = 70%  Emotions (combination of tone and actions) = 93%

7. 7 Objectives  Recognize benefits.  Identify characteristics.  Understand your approach.  Learn to manage interpersonal differences.  Learn to manage false agreement.

8. 8 Conflict as Opportunity  An opportunity for: –personal & organization change –learning –growth –improved performance  Points out existing barriers to success

9. 9 Do you understand your own beliefs, attitudes and values? Gold Watch

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11. 11 Managing Conflict Creatively  What is your conflict management style? –Aggressive/Confrontive –Assertive/Persuasive –Observant/Introspective –Avoiding/Reactive

12. 12 Categories of Challenging People Complainers Super-Agreeables Negativists Silent-Unresponsives Indecisives Hostile-Aggressives Know-It-All Experts

13. 13 10 General Strategies  Put problem people in proper perspective.  Take your pick -- positive or negative.  Don’t expect difficult people to change.  Learn to respond as well as listen.  Give and request frequent feedback.  Look first at policies and procedures.  Deal directly and discreetly.  Document for self-protection.  Be straightforward and unemotional.  Be gracious.

14. 14 False Agreement  “On the Road to Abilene”  The Abilene Paradox  Moral of the story: –Difference between real and phony conflict –False agreement as damaging as disagreement –Skills in agreement management are useful

15. 15 “The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided.” “The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided.” Casey Stengel

16. 16 Remember....  You can control yourself.  You can manage the situation.  However, you cannot control another person.