4 ways to deal with people that try to trivialize your work
From a philosophical view point, you can always try ignoring it. You sure have heard things like: “No one is worth your tears”… “Your inner peace is larger than to be disturbed by anyone”… and so on.
Fact is, there will always be those that try to minimize your value… they enjoy some weird pleasure in showing you and your work down… And you have to deal with it.
Let it not bother you… but do not ignore it either! Learn to manage the people that subject you to such passive slander and the resultant emotional baggage/ wastage of time. You have better use for your time than to lose it to such people.
Here are 4 ways you can deal with such people:
- The aggressive way: Call them out on it in public the moment you hear some unacceptable comment or email. Avoid getting into a slander race. Tell them why you take an exception to their comment, be professional in your tone and tell them clearly that you are not going to tolerate such comments.
- The passive way: Address it in private with them. Tell them why you think they are not correct in doing what they did.
- The politically correct way: Defend your position while subtly telling them that their behavior is making your job more difficult. Escalate it to their management if there is one. Request them not to misrepresent you.
- The sulk and rot way: Suck up to those unacceptable comments, sulk and rot!
My personal favorite way is the aggressive way… Keep things above board! Be sure that what you are doing is the right thing and do not shy away from calling spate a spate. You will win everyone’s respect and it will further prevent others from bullying you.
Why lose time that could otherwise be put to productive use?
