The truth is, most people will end up working with a toxic person at work at some point in their career. It is horrible to think that some people out there are toxic to start with, but it’s the truth. If you can plan how you’ll deal with this eventuality now, you may be able to navigate it more successfully when it happens.
- Practice Daily Self-Care – Nothing is worse than anxiety and stress associated with the dread of going to work around a toxic personality. To deal with this, ensure that you put it behind you when you’re home so that you can live your life in a healthy way, continuing to take care of yourself.
- Own Your Power – You don’t have to allow people to walk on you or be horrible around you. You are not trapped in your job. You can find a different one. You can resign. You can report the person if it fits HR guidelines. You can put them in their place. You can just ignore them. But you are not powerless.
- Practice Positivity – This may seem strange, but some toxic people just want to make you act negatively. Practice providing positive answers and expressions of feeling whenever you’re around the person in response to their toxic behavior. They may give up.
- Establish Boundaries – Speak up for yourself and tell people how you expect to be treated. No one has a right to talk to you like a child, disrespect your time, or harm you in any way mentally, spiritually, or physically. Say no when you need to without giving any reason.
It’s Usually Not about You – Remember that when someone has poor behavior, it’s almost always about them and not about the people they mistreat. You could be anyone. It doesn’t speak to your value or your personality because the other person is toxic.- Meditate and Journal – To help you develop positive thoughts, take the time each day after work to meditate and journal in order to help your mind transition away from the stress at work to your happy life at home.
- Distance Yourself – If you can, when you’re at work, try to avoid crossing paths with the person but not in an obvious way as to cause more drama. If you can get a new office space or be on a new team, go ahead and apply to remove the toxic person from your life as much as possible.
- Let Them Save Face – If you must keep working right near them, allow the toxic person to get their views out and then just do what you want to do. When people aren’t willing to hear other people, there is no point in trying to argue. Let them win, then do what’s right.
A toxic person may not even realize that they are being toxic, and the truth is, you have no idea what their home life is like or what they are going through emotionally, mentally, or physically. If you can face the toxic person at work with positivity, establish your boundaries, and move past it, this will put you in the power position where you can succeed despite the issue.
