This week’s video is about how to turn difference into connection.
The whole world was not meant to click – sometimes you’re going to have to work with someone that for whatever reason, you just clash with.
When faced with a difficult employee, especially when it’s a situation where we’ve reached the end of our rope, our instinct is to dial in on the differences, to focus on those, and let them feed our feelings of discontent.
But there are steps you can take to meet to create a new story with that tough colleague. To be clear, there are absolutely situations where the answer is to realize you and that specific employee have reached the end of your journey together, and that you need to let them go. But not always.
I once worked with a coworker that I had absolutely no connection with. Worse than that, I actively disliked being around her. I dreaded when we forced to work together, to the point that I almost broke my own rule about not saying anything behind a person’s back that I wouldn’t say directly to them.
So how did I eventually break through my own negative feelings for this employee? Check out this week’s video to see just that. And when you’ve finished watching, leave a comment below and tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult employee. What did you do? How did you handle it?
And if you want to make sure that the employee you’re struggling with doesn’t have a negative impact on the rest of the team, check out the videos below for some team building activities that can serve as preventative medicine when led well.
Toward real connection—online and off,
CHAD LITTLEFIELD
Creator of the Connection Toolkit
Co-Founder at We and Me
PS – If you want to shift the culture of your group toward conversations that matter and more effective communication, consider working through our new Guided Journal together as a group. Use the coupon code COLLABORATIVEJOURNALING to get 20% toward your order of 6+ journals.
PPS – If you want some team building exercises that don’t involve falling backward into a crowd of possibly indifferent coworkers, below are some great suggestions to get you started.