Customer Reviews

Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People: Hundreds of Ready-to-Use Phrases for Handling Conflict, Confrontations and Challenging Personalities

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I picked up this book because I thought it might be nice to have a list of ready-made phrases ready to use for difficult people at work. What a mistake! The suggested phrases in this book go against almost everything else I've ever read about effective communications and reads more like a "what to do to "CYA" at work." I find that most of the phrases suggested would, if spoken out loud to an actual person, probably make you no friends and indeed spark quite a few enemies.

The suggested language is often accusatory ("Because you yelled at the group..." and to say to a boss with unproductive comments "Comments like that are unproductive and do nothing but create bad feelings" - seriously, say that out loud and try to make it NOT sound snotty) and I can't imagine using any of these phrases ever in an attempt to communicate positively and effectively with my employees, my boss, my coworkers, my friends, my family, etc.

This book is far from perfect and contains probably the worst suggestions for dealing with difficult people. While the suggested phrases are straightforward, they lack the finesse often necessary to elicit the best response from someone.

This book did not have many useful phrases. Many were along the lines of "I know how you feel". How do you know how others feel? Also it was not formatted well for Kindle. Many of the "Quick Tips" were cut off because the boxes didn't fit the Kindle screen. Also, a large portion of several pages was just eh same 2008 copyright information over and over again.

If you want good books on this type of material look at "Crucial Conversations" and Crucial Confrontations". They are both exceptionally good.

This book is full of mediocre to bad advice on dealing with nightmare co-workers. I disagree with 70% of what is suggested; it all sounds canned. Maybe it's outdated. Maybe it's helpful for those with a diagnosis of Asbergers.

I have to write performance reviews a lot. I always need new ideas.Very helpful.

I have to write performance reviews a lot. I always need new ideas.Very helpful.

This is a great book for anyone. It is especially great for leaders or managers. It is also wonderful for those who work in an office environment.

This is an excellent book for the management or human resources professional who has to deal with problematic personalities on a regular basis. It is highly recommended!!