Toxic Coworkers: How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job (Paperback)

by Alan A., Ph.D. Cavaiola (Author), Neil J., Ph.D. Lavender (Author) "When we told our friends and family that we were entertaining the idea of writing a book on personality disorder in the workplace, we had..." (more)
Key Phrases: narcissistic administrator, narcissistic coworker, subcriminal psychopaths, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, American Psychiatric Association (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In the authors' random poll of 1,000 working people, 80 percent said that a single coworker contributed significant stress to their workday. Everyone has worked with someone "difficult" - someone who could always be trusted to blow up or say or do something provoking or inappropriate. Psychologists Alan Cavaiola and Neil Lavender have studied this much-discussed but rarely addressed area. Their research showed that the conventional wisdom that some problem workers are "just nuts" was right: a sizeable number of such employees do in fact have full-fledged personality disorders. In Toxic Coworkers, they pinpoint a variety of personality traits and disorders, showing how they come about and offering effective strategies for coping with them. The authors cover the range of familiar types, from hyperactives, histrionics, and sociopaths to narcissists and obsessive-compulsives and provide concrete techniques for surviving them.

Product Details

• Paperback: 207 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572242191
• ISBN-13: 978-1572242197
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,944 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dealing with Dysfunctional Coworkers, November 1, 2004

By	Andrea A. Russell "dr_russell" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This easily and quickly read book should be helpful to the reader who struggles with a boss, coworker or subordinate. In almost every workplace, there is one person whose behavior generates more negative attention than most others around him (or her). The toxic coworker we all experience at one time or another already has a gun; while we can't change that person, we certainly want to avoid giving her any bullets. Toxic Coworkers can help you understand that person and take appropriate actions that will not contribute further to the time- and attention-consuming behaviors that seem to make everyone around her miserable.

While not all the advice offered is research-based, as a Clinician familiar with coaching supervisors and coworkers to deal with problem personalities, the authors' descriptions of personalities and behaviors are accurate. I believe most readers will instantly recognize their problem-personality type from the descriptions based on the DSM-IV and the authors' experiences.

Cavaiola and Lavender advise against waiting for management to act; instead, they propose that readers arm themselves with the information and tactics that can protect themselves and their families from personality-disordered individuals on the job. I couldn't agree more. The authors repeatedly counsel readers to avoid taking the toxic-worker's actions personally and remind us all that we are not stuck in a hostile work enviroment. This book encourages the reader to take actions for self-protection and personal boundaries rather than to change the other person.

These two-hundred pages are cluttered with a number of typographical errors. I hope readers will allow themselves to ignore these errors in favor of gaining insight into themselves and others.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good inventory of disorders..., February 24, 2005

By	Paul D. Rasmussen Jr. (Pittsburgh PA, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...as they manifest themselves at the office. You'll definitely see some of the traits and behaviors described in the people you're working with. But... when it comes to coping with these types, as the title promises, I found the book short on practical methods for dealing with problem people. In some cases, the books states there's little or nothing that can be done about jerks on the job.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have..., November 1, 2000

By	"ghaenggi" - See all my reviews

I took my first managerial postition and a few months ago and was aware of an ongoing situation with a few of my co-workers who were now my responsibilty. Toxic Co-workers laid out a variety of disfunctional personality types but more importantly described how to deal with them in layman's terms. I can see this book as a staple for anyone in today's fast paced work environment that has to deal with a Toxic Co-Worker! It has helped me tremendously.