I have dealt with very difficult people throughout my career as it is part of our our profession. I am going to share a small overview of one of those types of people called Power Players. This particular one is a Tyrant.
Definition of a tyrant is someone who uses power in a cruel and unfair way. They are ruthless and will do anything to succeed. They use fear, coercion and terror to control others. They operate under a subjective value system.
They hire people that are weak. They punish those that ask questions and threaten their power. They constantly work to make others feel inferior.
They will go as far as:
Lie
Ignores unfavorable facts
Blames others
Control the flow of information
Tyrants get worse over time. They are narcissistic because they have no empathy. They enjoy abusing people. They are obsessed with winning and terrified of losing. They can be very dangerous if backed into a corner. They will even go as far to ruin someone's reputation.
The best way to deal with a Tyrant is to avoid them. If you don’t have that option, you would need to try and expose the tyrant in a dramatic way. You need to make sure you have all your ducks in a row as they will try and defeat you and possibly fire you.
You need to have the following to defeat a tyrant:
Facts
Guts
Know you may lose
Obtain allies
You should try and get the tyrant to treat you in a respectful way without being overbearing. You can try the following to get them to treat you a bit better:
Stop accepting your situation. You need to take action.
You need to appear as non-threatening. You need to be strong and unemotional.
Ask questions and demonstrate understanding instead of telling.
Emphasize areas that you agree with them.
This is just a brief overview but at some point you will encounter this person professionally, personally, in the work place or outside the workplace.
If you stay positive as you can it will help you in the end.
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