11/17/2025

Try to Understand Your Difficult Co-worker's Point of View

Many people are difficult simply because they think they're right

Dear Crucial Skills,

There is an assistant director in my department who is awful to work with. She makes her team nervous to fail, so they are dishonest with her about the status of projects. I have voiced this concern to my director, whom we both report to, but nothing has changed. I want to have an honest conversation with this assistant director, but I'm not sure how to approach it. Any suggestions?

Signed,
Collision Repair

Dear Collision Repair,

Unfortunately, your challenge is a tale as old as time. At Crucial Learning, sometimes, we joke that the hardest thing about working with people is... the people. But what if you could gain a more generous view of your colleagues—even those you struggle to work with? What if you could learn to see your colleagues not by their most frustrating qualities, but by their strengths?

Not long ago, we acquired a powerful personality assessment that can help with that change in perspective. It's called the Strength Deployment Inventory, and it gives people a view of their motives, their strengths and how their motives shift when experiencing conflict. The assessment has been shown to improve self-awareness, helping people better use their strengths and throttle behaviors that might irritate others. When taken as a team, it also helps people better understand their colleagues.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Crucial Learning.