Impossible to Please
How to Deal With Perfectionist Coworkers, Controlling Spouses, and Other Incredibly Critical People
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4.3 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Everyone knows someone who is impossible to please, critical, judgmental, picky, and stubbornly closed-minded. These are symptoms of a disorder called obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), but it’s common for people to have subclinical levels of some or all of these qualities. Most of the time, it’s best to avoid the difficult to please person, but what happens when he or she is a close family member, coworker, or even a spouse? It’s still possible to maintain a positive relationship with the right tools. Impossible to Please, written by the authors of Toxic Coworkers, is a manual for dealing with these difficult people without sitting through stressful arguments, vicious insults and attacks, and passive-aggressive behavior. It empowers readers to take charge of the relationship and regain their dignity and confidence in interactions with these individuals.
This book features specific strategies that are immediately effective when conversing with critical people and explains how readers can respond to unfair blame without becoming angry or overly defensive. By setting boundaries, improving communication, and asserting themselves, readers learn to deal with the impossible to please in romantic relationships, friendships, family, and work relationships.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this insightful offering, Lavender and Cavaiola (the duo behind 2000's Toxic Co-workers) address the challenges of dealing with those friends, family members, and co-workers whose standards seem impossibly high. After defining the variations and subtypes of "controlling perfectionists," the authors explore possible causes for these difficult personalities, including parental influence, anxiety, environment, and other factors. But rather than simply lambaste or dissect perfectionists, Lavendar and Cavaiola shift their focus to practical skills and strategies for dealing with these personalities, such as learning when to assert oneself and when to take a step back, as well as how to deal with outbursts, clarify one's goals as they relate to the perfectionist, and set "better boundaries." In a nutshell, the authors recommend "the three C's of collaborate communication,", which are tooled to allow perfectionists a certain level of control while empowering those communicating with them. Specific tips for handling different types of perfectionists are offered, as are suggested exercises that deal with everything from assertive communication to ways to build self-worth. Mental health therapy options are also explored in this thoughtful and useful take on a common characteristic.
