CHAPTER 17

How to Deal with a Passive-Aggressive Colleague

by Amy Gallo

YOUR COLLEAGUE SAYS ONE THING in a meeting but then does another. He passes you in the hallway without saying hello and talks over you in meetings. But when you ask to speak with him about it, he insists that everything’s fine and the problem is all in your head. Argh! It’s so frustrating to work with someone who is acting passive-aggressively. Do you address the behavior directly? Or try to ignore it? How can you get to the core issue when your colleague pretends that nothing’s going on?

What the Experts Say

It’s not uncommon for colleagues to occasionally make passive-aggressive remarks to one another over particularly sensitive issues or when they feel they can’t be direct. ...

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