From the course: Working with Difficult People

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Responding to passive-aggressive behavior

Responding to passive-aggressive behavior

From the course: Working with Difficult People

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Responding to passive-aggressive behavior

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Let's talk about a sneaky but very frustrating Level 3 behavior. And that is when someone is being passive-aggressive. Passive aggression is indirect hostility. So rather than openly communicating anger or frustration, people act it out. This can look like undermining. For example, maybe a coworker is upset that you got a promotion and they didn't. But rather than admitting that to themselves, they do things like question your authority on a project you lead in front of everyone. It can look like obstructing. So a teammate who feels competitive with you might agree to complete a task for you, but then they don't follow through. Or it can look like lateness. A colleague who feels annoyed that you want oversight on their project might arrive 15 minutes late to your weekly update meetings. An important thing to remember is that when someone is acting passive-aggressively, they might not even recognize their own frustration, because passive-aggressive behavior often happens when we are…

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