How to Lead Difficult People: A Must-Have Leadership Skill

Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast

Andy Stanley

Business

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Encountering difficult people is unavoidable. The best leaders learn how to manage their responses toward difficult people rather than mirroring their behavior. In this episode I share practical strategies for handling challenging individuals while maintaining your leadership edge.

Download the application guide: https://bit.ly/4bjln8M

Here's what we cover in this episode:

What makes someone a difficult person. (1:48)
Why reacting emotionally gives difficult people power over you. (4:50)
How to respond to difficult people. (6:19)
How to manage difficult people without losing a leadership edge. (7:30)

Special thanks to our sponsor BELAY for offering a free download of their ebook, 10 Tactics to Boost Productivity. This resource is full of helpful tips to make your workdays more sustainable, productive, and fulfilling. Just text the word ANDY to 55123 to claim your free ebook now.

Recognized as one of Forbes' 6 Leadership Podcasts To Listen To In 2024 and one of the Best Leadership Podcasts To Stay in the Know for CEOs, according to Industry Leader Magazine.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everybody, welcome to the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, a conversation designed to help leaders go further faster.
0:08.0	I'm Andy. And before we jump into today's content, I wanted to tell you about a special offer from our friends at Belay.
0:14.5	As you know, the constant demands of leadership on our time and our energy can be overwhelming.
0:19.0	And so obviously it's important to establish systems to ease that pressure.
0:22.9	And that's where Belay comes in.
0:24.3	Belay is here to help you reclaim your time in powerful ways.
0:28.1	Belay's virtual assistance, accounting professionals, and marketing assistants are U.S. based,
0:33.8	vetted, and matched to your unique needs so you can focus on the work that you love.
0:39.1	To help you get started, Belay is providing a free download of their e-book, 10 tactics to boost
0:44.3	productivity. For when there just aren't enough hours in the day, which is most days right,
0:48.9	this resource will provide you with practical productivity strategies and helpful insights
0:53.3	into how virtual professionals
0:55.3	can help you make your workday more efficient. That way, you get results and peace of mind
1:00.4	at the same time. So don't miss out. Get your free download of 10 tactics to boost productivity
1:05.2	today. To claim this offer, just text the word Andy, A&D-Y to 55-123. That's A-N-D-Y to 55-1-2-3. That's A-N-D-Y to 55-1-2-3.
1:15.2	And now let's jump into today's content. Today we are talking about attention every
1:19.5	leader at every level deals with, or as we say around here, attention every leader has the
1:24.4	opportunity to manage, namely, difficult people.
1:29.0	And joining me to unpack this topic, as always is my co-host Susie Gray.
1:32.9	Susie, do you know any difficult people?
1:35.9	Present company, not included.
1:38.8	Since this is not the Susie Gray Leadership Podcast, I'll defer to you on that one.
	...

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