How do you deal with difficult people at work?

How do you deal with difficult people at work? 

In a former job, I had a manager that was insufferable (to me). 

Each day, she presented new ways to showcase that we were complete opposites. My style is to keep things lively, ensure that everyone on the team is respected and acknowledged. My manager, would bulldoze through people and try to control every aspect of how they did their job.

My tenure didn't last long there at this organization because of this manager. However, as I reminisce about that position, I have come to recognize that DiSC could have helped me deal with difficult co-workers like my former manager.

While we all expect the manager or boss to be the more mature person, we all have a responsibility to be mature ourselves and recognize how our own work style might negatively affect someone else.

In the case of my manager, I could have been more proactive in leaning into her need for self-control. Instead, I did the exact opposite. I went behind her back on tasks. My goal was to annoy her greatly, and it worked.

Because we had opposing work styles, I started to develop automatic thoughts that pushed me towards destructive behaviors. I felt entitled to 'fight back' when in reality I made our work environment worse.