How to Deal with Difficult People

Author: Lynn Fountain

We’ve all experienced it—trying to reason with an incredibly difficult person. It can be frustrating, maddening, and even frightening. The reality is you can’t reason with someone who is being unreasonable. However, there are proven techniques to help manage these challenging interactions.

The difficult business issues that emerged in 2020 and which have continued, make this skillset even more critical. While some professionals respond by changing positions or moving to another department, difficult people exist everywhere. You might avoid the first one or two, but what about the third, fifth, or tenth? Hiding is not a sustainable solution. Instead of making drastic changes each time, why not equip yourself with strategies to address these situations directly?

These tactics can be applied with anyone—your boss, a customer, a family member, or even a stranger. The closer your relationship with the person, the more insight you’ll have into what will calm the situation. When someone is acting unreasonably, your brain’s fear-response center is triggered. It’s your job to consciously engage your rational mind to defuse the tension.

Some techniques are mindset-based, helping you prepare mentally for challenging interactions. Others are more tactical, offering step-by-step approaches to de-escalate conflict. In this course, we will examine expert-recommended strategies for working with difficult people. While some tactics may feel awkward at first, with practice—and by understanding both the situation and the people involved—you can successfully de-escalate issues and restore a sense of calm to even the most heated discussions.

The goal isn’t to “win” against a difficult person—it’s to de-escalate the situation, protect your well-being, and maintain productive relationships whenever possible.

Publication Date: January 2026

Designed For
All organizations, employees, management, staff, vendors and board members.

Topics Covered

• Most successful techniques experts have identified to utilize when working with difficult people
• Recognize the situation
• Understand the people involve
• Tactics can effectively help de-escalate the issue
• Signs of a difficult person
• Behavioral Patterns
• Emotional Triggers
• Relationship Strains

Learning Objectives

• Identify the "signs" that you may be dealing with a difficult person
• Recognize and evaluate your own role in the relationship and what may be causing difficulty on your side
• Describe tips for communicating with difficult people
• Identify how to de-escalate a toxic issue
• Identify the most effective tactics to utilize when dealing with difficult people

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Personal Development (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None