60 SECONDS ON BUSINESS
Learn how to deal with troublemakers

By Dr. Drake Beil
President, Solutions Inc.

If you can spot trouble before it starts, you have a chance of preventing future problems. Here are suggestions for dealing with two more typical troublemakers on the job.

Let's call the first one Sterling Snipe. Sterling prefers to hide in camouflage and will never say anything to your face. You'll hear about it in the rumor mills and his favorite weapon is sarcasm. Snipers love false accusations and innuendo, but they're rarely careless or obvious. You can best deal with them when you realize that they lose their advantage when flushed out into the open. When they're exposed in front of others they lose their power. So find someone else who has been a victim of the chatter and have coffee with Sterling. When two or more of you confront Sterling about the rumors and accusations, there's no denial and nowhere to run. When you smoke him out of his cover, the ambushing is over and maybe you can work out a more positive relationship.

A cousin of Sterling's is the chronic complainer Tommy Nono. Tommy also feels powerless to change things, but rather than attack others, Tommy attacks the situation with negativity. Tommy can tell you 200 reasons why your idea won't work but never offers an alternative. The way to deal with Tommy is not to play at all. Don't agree and don't disagree. If you agree with Tommy, he'll take you for a good ear and keep up the negative comments. If you disagree, he'll just have one more thing to complain about: you. You can leave Tommy with the feeling that you understand what he said but are still neutral.