Dealing with Difficult People in the Workplace: Winning Strategies That Work
Dr. Rick Goodman's corporate training program on dealing with difficult people in the workplace gives your leaders and teams practical tools to handle difficult behavior, defuse hostile situations, and communicate with confidence in any encounter.
Dealing with Difficult People in the Workplace Is a Skill Most Leaders Are Never Taught
Dealing with difficult people in the workplace is one of the most common and costly challenges organizations face. Difficult behavior erodes team performance, drives away top talent, and costs organizations in ways that never show up on a balance sheet. Whether the challenge is an aggressive client, a disruptive team member, or a pattern of communication breakdowns, most professionals are left to figure it out on their own.
This program changes that. Dr. Rick Goodman's Winning Strategies for Dealing with Difficult People gives participants a structured, practical framework for identifying difficult behavior, responding with confidence, and resolving conflict before it becomes a culture problem. Participants leave with skills they apply immediately in their next difficult conversation.
Managers and Team Leaders
You manage people who create friction, avoid accountability, or escalate tension. This program gives you a repeatable framework for dealing with difficult employees directly without damaging team cohesion.
Customer-Facing Professionals
Sales teams, service professionals, and account managers who encounter hostile workplace situations with aggressive or demanding clients need practical de-escalation tools that protect the relationship and close the conversation productively.
HR and Organizational Leaders
You need a training solution that builds consistent skills for managing difficult behavior across your organization and reduces the volume of interpersonal issues that escalate to HR. This program delivers both.
What Participants Learn for Dealing with Difficult People at Work
Every outcome in this program is practical and immediately applicable. Participants do not just understand difficult people at work after this training. They know exactly what to do about them.
Identify Difficult Behavior Styles
Recognize the specific patterns of difficult behavior and understand your own personal communication style so you can adapt your approach to any situation and any personality type.
Build Positive Communication Atmospheres
Develop strategies that shift team dynamics from reactive and defensive to open and solution-focused, creating an environment where difficult conversations happen constructively.
Manage Conflict Proactively
Understand how and why people create and use conflict, so you can intervene at the right moment with the right approach before tension escalates into a larger organizational problem.
Coach and Counsel Difficult Employees
Know when to train, coach, or counsel a difficult team member and have the frameworks to do each one effectively without damaging the working relationship or your authority as a leader.
De-escalate Hostile Situations
Use proven communication techniques to neutralize a hostile environment in real time, manage your own emotional response, and guide the conversation toward a productive resolution.
Respond with Professionalism and Confidence
Diagnose the underlying factors that break communication down and respond to difficult people and situations with the composure and confidence that earns respect and gets results.
Six Modules for Dealing with Difficult People in the Workplace
The curriculum is built around Rick's core frameworks for communication and conflict resolution, giving your team proven strategies for dealing with difficult people at work across every role and industry context.
Power, Structure, and Tension in Relationships
Explore how power imbalances influence workplace interactions and decision-making. Understand the structural rules and patterns that shape relationship dynamics, and learn how to manage tension constructively rather than avoiding it or letting it escalate.
Conflict or Compromise: Selecting the Right Strategy
Not every difficult situation calls for the same response. Participants learn how to assess a conflict situation, understand when to hold firm and when to find common ground, and choose the strategy that produces the best long-term outcome.
Dealing with Anger in the Workplace
Anger is one of the most disruptive forces when dealing with difficult people in the workplace. This module gives participants structured techniques for managing their own anger response and addressing anger in others without escalating the situation or damaging the relationship.
Neutralizing a Hostile Environment
When tension has already taken hold of a team, a meeting, or a client interaction, participants need a clear protocol for de-escalation. This module provides that protocol, along with practice scenarios drawn from real workplace situations.
Building Bridges Instead of Walls
The goal of every difficult conversation should be a stronger relationship, not just a resolved incident. Participants learn how to use conflict as a bridge-building opportunity that increases trust, alignment, and mutual respect over time.
Communication Techniques for Difficult Situations
Structured communication frameworks for the moments when the stakes are highest. Participants practice adaptive language, active listening under pressure, and the specific communication moves that keep difficult conversations productive rather than destructive.
Real Frameworks for Dealing with Difficult People. Immediate Application. Lasting Results.
Rick's training programs are built around one principle: participants leave with tools they use the next day for managing difficult behavior at work, not concepts they forget by Friday.
Customized to Your Organization
Every program begins with a discovery conversation. Rick builds scenarios around your specific team dynamics, industry, and the difficult people in the workplace your teams actually encounter.
Practical and Immediately Applicable
Participants leave every session with structured frameworks they can apply in their next difficult conversation at work. No theory for theory's sake. Everything is grounded in real situations.
CSP-Credentialed and Battle-Tested
As a Certified Speaking Professional and Top 30 Global Leadership Guru, Rick brings more than 30 years of real-world leadership and organizational experience into every training room.
Engaging and Interactive
Sessions include role plays, group discussion, and real-scenario exercises that ensure every participant is actively building skills, not passively watching a presentation.
Measurable Behavior Change
Rick's clients consistently report that the frameworks from this program become embedded in how their teams communicate and resolve conflict months after the training ends.
Delivered Across Every Industry
From healthcare and financial services to manufacturing and professional associations, Rick has delivered this program across 32 countries and all 50 states. He meets your team where they are.
Flexible Formats Built Around Your Organization
This program is available as a half-day or full-day session and can be delivered in-person, virtually, or as part of a multi-session leadership development initiative.
On-Site Training
Full immersive sessions delivered at your location. Ideal for hands-on role-play and group exercises that benefit from shared physical space and real-time interaction.
Virtual Delivery
High-engagement virtual sessions with interactive tools, breakout exercises, and structured scenarios that replicate the energy and application of in-person training.
Hybrid Programs
Multi-session formats that combine an on-site kick-off with virtual follow-up sessions to reinforce skills and sustain behavior change over time.
Results That Last Beyond the Training Room
"Even a few months after the training, we are still using the principles you taught us in our daily work. The terms G.E.T., A.S.K. and WIIFM are now ingrained in our organization, and the tools you provided are used frequently. Rick, you truly pack 25 lbs of information into a 5 lb bag!"
John Leone
Heineken St. Maarten N.V.
"Dr. Rick Goodman is a dynamic speaker with a strong understanding of leadership and communication. His sessions delivered clear, actionable insights that resonated with both onsite and corporate teams, drawing strong engagement and exceptional attendee feedback. We would enthusiastically recommend him to any organization seeking an energetic, insightful, and impactful trainer."
Robert Carroll
Executive Director, North Central Florida Apartment Association
Everything You Need to Know Before You Book
Questions not answered here? Call 1-954-218-5325 or email rick@rickgoodman.com.
This program is designed for anyone who manages people, works in customer-facing roles, or operates in environments where dealing with difficult people in the workplace affects team performance. It is equally effective for frontline managers, senior leaders, HR teams, sales professionals, and service teams. Rick customizes the scenarios and examples to match your specific audience during the discovery process.
The program is available as a half-day session (approximately three to four hours) or a full-day session (six to seven hours). Full-day formats allow for deeper role-play practice and more extensive group work. For organizations looking for sustained behavior change across leadership teams, a multi-session format is also available. Rick will recommend the right duration during the discovery conversation based on your goals and group size.
Yes. Every program begins with a pre-event discovery conversation where Rick learns about your organization's specific challenges, team dynamics, industry, and the types of difficult situations your people encounter most. The scenarios, examples, and role-play exercises are built around your actual environment, not generic workplace situations pulled from a textbook.
Absolutely. This program pairs naturally with Communication Mastery, Conflict Management Training, and the Solutions Oriented Leader Workshop. Many organizations build a full-day or multi-day leadership development experience by combining two or three programs. Rick will help you design the right sequencing so the programs build on each other rather than feeling like separate events.
Investment is based on program duration, group size, customization scope, and travel requirements. Because every program is built to your organization's specific needs, pricing is discussed during the discovery conversation rather than listed publicly. Contact us to discuss your goals and we will put together a proposal that fits your budget and objectives.
Ready to Build a Workplace That Handles Conflict with Confidence?
Every engagement begins with a discovery conversation. Tell Rick what your organization needs and he will build a program around your specific goals, audience, and timeline.