Perhaps the biggest challenge--and the biggest source of stress--for most people in the workplace is dealing with difficult people and having difficult conversations. Dealing with a Difficult Co-worker, and future volumes in the Courageous Conversations at Work series, are each designed to present the reader with techniques and guiding principles for bringing up difficult issues in an entertaining story-based format. This series is also designed to be used by training and development professionals as the foundation for in-house seminars, where each story could be used to engage learners in a facilitated conversation or workshop on how to address the particular issue raised in that story. Table of Contents Section One About This Series....................................................................... 5Introduction............................................................................... 8Where This Comes From and What That Has to Do With You..... 12How to Make the Most of This................................................... 15Section TwoDid He Really Just Say That?.................................................... 19From Ruminating to Plotting Revenge........................................ 21Coming to My Senses................................................................ 22So What Does "Address an Issue Directly" Actually Look Like?.... 23What Do I Share And What Do I NOT Share?............................. 24What's The Outcome I Desire?.................................................. 27Transforming a Counterproductive Outcome Intention to a Productive One 29Starting the Conversation Off on the Right Foot......................... 31What If It All Goes Wrong?....................................................... 34How Do You Manage Up When Your Boss Isn't Likely to Care?... 38Doesn't All This Worst Case Scenario Thinking Just Add To Your Stress? 41It's Game On............................................................................ 42Why Did I Choose This for My Declaration/Invitation?................ 47Sam Responds.......................................................................... 50Was He Really Telling the Truth?.............................................. 51What Can We Learn From Sam's Response?............................... 52Where NOT To Go From Here.................................................... 53Gauging Someone's Comfort with Open, "Deep" Conversation.... 55True Confession Time............................................................... 56Let's End This Off on a High Note.............................................. 59 Section ThreeWhat Can We Learn From This Story?........................................ 61A Quick Review and Reminders For Future Courageous Conversations 63Next Steps............................................................................... 65