Toxic People: Decontaminate Difficult People At Work: Without Using Weapons Or Duct Tape

Chapter 1. A Hair in Your Biscuit

There have been people put on this earth to push your buttons, tick you off, and suck the life out of you. You know who they are. If you are tired of being contaminated by these Toxic People, read on.

I was a sales manager for a Fortune 100 company and had just made the decision to reinvent myself. Watching successful people and how they build relationships seemed to be the ticket, and I had just heard the statement "Treat people as you want to be treated." Monday morning I entered the building smiling and immediately ran into my boss, who said (her actual words, so don't blame me!) "What are you so f____ing happy about? You usually look like you found a hair in your biscuit or that somebody peed in your coffee."

Lovely. I immediately knew I was on the right track, because it really was a pain to work for her. The happier I got, the crappier she got. Perfect. My emphasis on being positive got me promoted within a short time, and her attitude led to an eventual ride on the proverbial broomstick into the sunset.

You have several choices when thinking about coping strategies. These include hating the Toxic People, quitting your job, or just plain copping out. In messy interactions, you unwittingly promote the behavior you don't want mainly because the mind is lazy and you want an easy fix. There is no easy way to cope, however, so you need to consider dumping your current behaviors and learning new approaches. You need to move from emotional reaction ...