151 Quick Ideas to Deal With Difficult People

141Asking a Fellow Manager to Respect Your Subordinates

An office manager wrote to me to describe a situation in her office that the doctor in charge refused to address. A new partner had repeatedly offered to give a young woman a ride home. She accepted once, but she was so put off by his aggressive behavior she wanted nothing to do with him after that. Still he persisted with the offers and often went over to her desk and stood uncomfortably close. She confided in the office manager. The officer manager, in turn, asked her boss, the doctor who owned the practice, to speak with the other doctor. The doctor in charge didn’t. The young woman quit and now the office manager wonders if the ex-employee will sue.

When you’re asked to address a fellow ...