Almost all of us come across conniving colleagues who make our work life and sometimes everyday life difficult and times toxic, so how do we deal with them?
Step 1: Identify
Conniving people are nothing but simply controlling albeit in a covert manner; they have certain characteristics which can help us identify them and ensure we are proactive in protecting ourselves from them.
Passive & Aggressive – is the typical behavior of a conniving colleague; no shouting, no abusive behavior, no bullying tactics; just devious and controlling, always subtle, passing on the blame, pointing fingers, talking about people behind their back. Keeps on dropping hints of closeness to the boss!
Act the victim & Vilify the victim – Act hurt, as if can’t imagine sabotaging or hurting anyone, play the innocent and simultaneously make ‘you’ the bad guy for doubting his/her intention, make you feel guilty and shame you.
Charming & Concerned - another of those traits…show more content… Step 2: Change
Yourself & the Rules:
Manipulative people look out for people who are low on self esteem, under confident, looking for approval, want to please others, have high emotional dependency. It is important to look within and overcome some of these weaknesses. Enhance your self-worth but this may take time, so in the interim associate with people who are hardworking and confident. People who are confident are more difficult to manipulate and hence your conniving colleague may just about lose interest in you!
Trust yourself and do not keep on giving the benefit of doubt to the manipulating colleague. Never doubt your abilities and worth or feel guilty about your past mistakes in front of a conniving person All of these could be used against you at a later time after the initial empathy session.
Step 3:
