If you work with people then you are probably familiar with dealing with negative attitudes, because people cannot always be on their best behavior. After working in a medical practice for many years now I still get surprised at the negative things people will say to us when they come to our office. It is quite a challenge to try to turn them around in the time they are there, and often we are not successful. There are some simple tactics you can use on a negative attitude that can work. When someone is complaining to you, ask them to be specific about the problem. They may try to continue with the same statements, but bring them back to what the specifics are so you can really understand where they are coming from. Many times they cannot be specific because it is an attitude issue and when they realize it, they are sort of up against a wall because they cannot pin-point the exact problem. When this happens they will usually calm down. But when you get someone who will just not come around and are on a rampage, remember these two simple things that you can do, number one is to “let go” and don’t challenge them. And number two “you choose to continue to be positive”. The person may not change their negative attitude, but you do not have to let it get to you. You can continue to smile, let them know that you want to help them however you can, but do not let them get the best of you. You have the choice, even though it may be hard at times, remember 99% of the time it has nothing to do with you personally, it is about a situation. The link below has some good points when it comes to dealing with negative people, take a read, I am sure you will find some good points to follow.
8/1/12
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