Toxic Coworkers: How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job

by Alan A. Cavaiola

Book Overview

We've all worked with someone "difficult," someone who could always be trusted to blow up to space out or do or say something wildly inappropriate. As it happens, those of us who concluded "the guy's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572242191
• ISBN13: 9781572242197
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Book's usefulness extends beyond the authors' intent!

I knew my co-manager was "crazy" and now thanks to "Toxic Coworkers" I also know how to make the best of the situation. This book is well-organized and packed with useful information and advice. The layman language and insightful anecdotes used by the authors help make it easy to understand and interesting. I also feel that the book's usefulness goes beyond the authors' intent. I believe that most people have some of the traits that are found in people with Personality Disorders, just in lesser, more rational and more functional degrees; and that the same advice the authors give for dealing with toxics in the workplace could be applied when dealing with more "normal" types at work or anywhere. For instance, the authors' advice on emphasizing the positives in evaluations when dealing with certain personality disorders would seem to be a productive way to handle all employees, as well as students, but especially those with lower self-esteem. While the authors clearly accomplish their goal of writing a book that helps people deal with toxic disorders in their workplace, they have also created a great reference book for dealing with all people, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving his interactions with others.

Excellent "Handbook" for navigating toxic personalities

"Toxic Coworkers" was an easy read, and it delivers what the cover promises: "How to Deal with Dysfunctional People." Covering all the major players- all 10 of the personality disorders described by the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), it is an excellent resource for identifying exactly what type of problematic personality you might be dealing with, allowing the reader to then focus their search for additional literature pertaining to the specific personality disorder at hand. Not only do the authors provide realistic and DO-ABLE solutions and strategies, their advice is organized by both which disorder you are dealing with, as well as the reader's relationship with the personality-disordered individual. (i.e. Boss/Administrator, Coworker, or Subordinate.) Additionally the book can be used as a guide for dealing with other toxic personalities in your life- a "parent" can substitute for the boss, a sibling or neighbor for "coworker", or a child for the "subordinate." If you already know which disorder you are up against, you can jump to the appropriate chapter and start learning right away. I was able to start implementing solutions for dealing with a personality-disordered relative the same day! This publisher needs to fire the editors of this book, as there were many small typos and grammatical errors, but don't judge the book on this alone. I am an educated adult with a background in scientific research, and found the authors to back up their ideas with solid information and strategies... that are already proving successful for me. As a side-note, if you are seeking information about sociopaths (Antisocial Personality Disorder), I highly recommend this book along with The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout. If you are seeking help in dealing with a Narcissistic personality, I again highly recommend both this book, along with Joan Lackhar's How to Talk to a Narcissist. Both Stout and Lackhar offer understandable insight and sound advice backed by strong research and building on both accepted literature from experts who have come before them the past 50 years, as well as more recently discovered data.

Is one person making you feel crazy?

As a physician, I have many patients come to me with physical or emotional symptoms of anxiety. If I discover that these symptoms are connected not throughout their experience but with just one person, say a boss, loved one or co-worker, I often recommend this book. This book brings personality disorders to the lay person. It is very readable and give specific techniques that with make things work smoothly with this person and examples of what will make things more difficult. This is a great read for anyone. I think we will all recognize people in our lives in each of the personality disorders. You will recognize your difficult person in one or more of the personality disorders. This book make you feel instantly sane because you can see that it's not you, that the difficult person can be acurately described by someone who doesn't even know you. An excellent book!

TOXIC COWORKERS - A MUST-HAVE IF YOU WORK

This book is absolutely the best guide I have seen for helping a working person deal with those people who just can't be dealt with at work. It goes into detail about Personality Disorder characteristics and how to deal with people who have a personality disorder, from the prospective of the co-worker, manager, and subordinate. It also covers other types of mental problems in addition to personality disorders. It really helped me in the area of giving real background information and vocabulary in order for me to let my manager know exactly what one of my subordinates was like. It gave a me a good handle on how best to deal with this "toxic co-worker". Even though I am not able to keep his problem from negatively impacting the work area completely, at least I have the peace of mind that it is his problem and not my imagination running wild!

A must have...

I took my first managerial postition and a few months ago and was aware of an ongoing situation with a few of my co-workers who were now my responsibilty. Toxic Co-workers laid out a variety of disfunctional personality types but more importantly described how to deal with them in layman's terms. I can see this book as a staple for anyone in today's fast paced work environment that has to deal with a Toxic Co-Worker! It has helped me tremendously.