{"id":11164,"date":"2019-11-12T06:00:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=11164"},"modified":"2019-11-10T13:54:46","modified_gmt":"2019-11-10T18:54:46","slug":"handling-toxic-co-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/11\/handling-toxic-co-worker.html","title":{"rendered":"Handling That Toxic CoWorker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"analyzing-3556678_1920\"<\/p>\n

There is always one toxic coworker\u00a0that makes you crazy. It doesn’t seem to matter where you work. It could be that guy who always takes credit for other peoples’ work or goes behind your back and is passive-aggressive. Or how about the woman who looks you in the eye, smiles and then bad mouths you to the boss?<\/p>\n

So how do you handle a toxic coworker? First, acknowledge that you can’t control the person. If you try to give feedback to correct a situation, it usually doesn’t work. In fact, toxic coworkers\u00a0are good at manipulating your good intentions and using them against you. They probably aren’t going to change just because you call them out.<\/p>\n

All you can do it control your reaction to them. So think about it. How much energy do you want to spend on the toxic coworker? If you spend a lot, you are\u00a0given them\u00a0power. Refuse to give them anymore power than they try to garnish. Don’t ruin your evening by talking about them. If you do, you have now allowed them into your personal time and life.<\/p>\n

This next one is hard to do but important–resist the constant urge to complain about that person. Why? Complaining\u00a0focuses you on them and ruins your day! Look, we often\u00a0complain because it gives us a false sense of control over a person we can’t control.\u00a0But\u00a0complaining makes us\u00a0toxic! Instead, work on a solution for the problem. Keep your reaction positive and move forward.<\/p>\n

Finally, listen to your self-talk. Are you blaming others for making your work more difficult? Toxic coworkers\u00a0can have that affect. They are easy scapegoats. Empower yourself to say,”I am not going to allow this person any more space, time or discouragement at my workplace. God, you deal with them. Let me continue to work on my response and stay focused.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is always one toxic coworker\u00a0that makes you crazy. It doesn’t seem to matter where you work. It could be that guy who always takes credit for other peoples’ work or goes behind your back and is passive-aggressive. Or how about the woman who looks you in the eye, smiles and then bad mouths you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1057],"tags":[4544,1103,4543,1060],"class_list":["post-11164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-work-relationships","tag-difficult-co-workers","tag-difficult-people","tag-toxic-coworkers","tag-work-relationships-2"],"yoast_head":"\nHandling That Toxic CoWorker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/11\/handling-toxic-co-worker.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Handling That Toxic CoWorker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is always one toxic coworker\u00a0that makes you crazy. It doesn’t seem to matter where you work. It could be that guy who always takes credit for other peoples’ work or goes behind your back and is passive-aggressive. 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