You’re lucky if you go to work every day and truly enjoy the people you work with. Sometimes it’s the people at work who make your job so tough. These are people with short tempers, boundary violators, and other habits that turn people off. I call these people toxic. You must have strategies to deal with toxic people at work.
Can you spot toxic people?
It shouldn’t surprise you when one day someone turns into a toxic person. It’s not that it’s a sudden transition. You’ve missed some important clues along the way. Here are some additional clues. A person is toxic when they continuously miss deadlines they’ve committed to. Liars are toxic people. People who talk negatively about other people are toxic. You might have missed a somewhat related clue about people talking negatively about other people to you. They are probably talking negatively about you to other people!
You might not be able to avoid these toxic people. Just be sure you are aware that they are toxic. Do try to minimize your involvement with them if you have a choice. Be friendly when you see them. A hello greeting is fine– just keep on walking!
What can you do about toxic people?
A toxic person is going to do everything to protect himself and deflect all criticism. Be sure when you work with toxic people you get everything in writing. You don’t have to write a legal document. Just capture any agreed work in an email. Don’t rely on phone commitments. There’s no documentation when you refer to a phone call. Send a confirming email after a phone call to document what was agreed on in the phone call. You could start with, “Thanks for taking the time to speak today.” Be sure to add at the end, “Please let me know if I’ve missed anything.”
Your confirming emails should reference the date when you spoke and specifics on who will do what work and due dates. Your confirming emails just might get results with deliverables. The toxic person now understands that you are clear about expectations and expect results.
When do you initiate the nuclear option?
Going to your manager, or above your manager if your manager is toxic is the nuclear option. After all, you are supposed to be able to manage people when you are in sales. I had to initiate the nuclear option. I was on a sales team of two. My teammate’s wife wasn’t happy he was working with a female. He told me she instructed him that I was not to call him. You can give me credit because I tried that for a few weeks, but dealing with our customers became a problem when I couldn’t contact him. The delays were causing problems, and I told him. Sadly, he didn’t understand.
I had to go to my manager and tell him the situation. I asked my manager, “So how would you recommend I deal with this?” Fortunately, I did have a great manager. He said, “Just let me handle it.” Someone else’s spouse is not part of the decision making when it comes to your livelihood. That’s what my manager told my teammate.
I’ve worked with many more nice, talented people over the years than I have worked with toxic ones. Whether you ignore toxic people or deal with them is your choice. Just don’t let them ruin your enjoyment and success of your selling.