How to deal with Difficult People and Conflict Management (Udemy.com)
Difficult conversations, Difficult people, Conflict management, Conflict resolution, Communication, Mediation
Created by: Peter Willis M.A.
Last updated October 2024
What you will learn
- You'll learn about the psychology of human behaviour and why misinterpretations, biases, judgements and assumptions stoke the fires of conflict
- How unconsciously we fall into roles that lead us to become unhelpful – even antagonistic – when dealing with others
- You'll learn a process that will help you structure and better manage a difficult conversation
- How to deal with bullies and those of the Dark Triad
- How to manage passive aggressives - and how not to!
- How to lessen your stress, help you regain control & feel confident that you can handle difficult conversations, difficult people & conflict situations at work.
- How to communicate more effectively - leading to improved emotional intelligence
- How to have difficult conversations & work with difficult people
- How to become an expert in conflict management at work & manage difficult people
How it compares
Against the other 230 rated Udemy courses in Leadership & Management on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 69% of them
- Reviews396#169 of 231 by number of reviews
- Length2.2 hourslonger than 52% of them
- Last updatedOctober 2024earlier than 64% of them
Course Description
"This is one of the most useful courses I've found in Udemy. Very clear and practical. Thank you!" Luca Mecca, course student
"...This is my favourite course, to date." Paul Lavelle, course student
"I would recommend this course to everyone. This course teach you not only how to deal with difficult people but also how to listen. Very informative course." Lydia, course student
"I've listened and listened again. OK corral (tick), how to listen (tick), working with Psychos (tick). My tricky customer is smiling now. Double plus good." Brian Turner, course student
"Found the content to be really informative and presented in a way that was easy to understand. Will go back over the information many times I think just to keep refreshing. Thank-you" Coralie Gibson, course student
"I enjoyed this course, and thought it explained alot of the topics well and it is nice to have the workbook to use for future." Lindsay Machado, course student
WHAT DOES THIS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT & DIFFICULT PEOPLE COURSE COVER?
We are communicating to other people all of the time. It’s not a discrete skill. When we have a chat with a colleague in the canteen, when we send out an email, whether we choose to have a heated debate with someone or choose to ignore that same person – we are sending our signals and we’re processing others’ signals, for the most part, unconsciously.
SWITCHING FROM AUTOPILOT TO MANUAL
So a key aim of this conflict management and difficult conversations course is to help you switch from autopilot to manual drive, so you become more aware of what you’re communicating to others – both intentionally and unintentionally – and to help you become aware of what others might be trying to tell you through the messages they send out.
All this is going to give you more options when you're communicating – you’ll have more choices for how you respond to difficult people, in a difficult conversation and in conflict situations – and this puts you in the driving seat to ensure you ensure conflict resolution and you can manage difficult people and that difficult conversation in the workplace and elsewhere. With this greater self awareness and emotional intelligence, you'll have the know-how to get people on side, you'll know which battles to fight and when to argue, and which conflict and arguments to walk away from, and you won’t jump into unnecessary arguments and come away regretting what you did or didn’t say or do afterwards. What’s more, you'll develop greater confidence in your ability to lead others and role model how to deal with conflict situations - or have that difficult conversation - in an effective and calm way.
"Found the content to be really informative and presented in a way that was easy to understand. Will go back over the information many times I think just to keep refreshing. Thank-you." Coralie Gibson, course student
FLEXIBILITY AND ATTITUDE
The difference between someone who’s good at communicating and dealing with difficult people and situations – and somebody who’s not – is flexibility and attitude. So, someone who is good at influencing and can deal with difficult people, and can have that difficult conversation, they will adapt their communication – how they say things, how they write emails, when they choose to speak and who they speak to. And they have an attitude that has the ego removed. So influencing and dealing with others no longer becomes some zero-sum game in which you-lose-I-win, winner-takes-all competition. These lessons can be used in the workplace with employees (including a toxic manager) or equally well outside of work.
"I think this course opens up my mind in terms of people and how to handle them." Gita Hapsari, course student
YOUR MINDSET IS KEY
While a lot of conflict management and conflict resolution courses teach you what to say and how to behave with difficult people, during a difficult conversation and when handling conflict, this course also addresses the most critical part: your mindset.
Without first changing your mindset and attitudes, any new skills will simply melt under the pressure of a conflict situation or when handling difficult people or having a difficult conversation in the workplace or elsewhere.
This conflict management and dealing with difficult people course also aims to give you an understanding of the psychology behind people's behaviour and crucially, to help you know what's going on for you, and the reasons you might be reacting to situation and difficult people instinctively.
On this course, you'll learn:
About the psychology of human behaviour, so you've a greater understanding of your own and others' behaviour
About the roles we play in conflicts and how unconscious biases affect our ability to think rationally
How to get into the right mindset to deal with difficult people and conflict situations at work
How blame gives away your power to deal with a difficult person, and why the cycle of blame only serves to prolong a conflict
What projection is and how to deal with others' projections
Why taller men and get paid more, and why more attractive people earn more
How to overcome personal biases that maybe leading to labelling and entrancing your view of the other as a difficult person!
How to deal with bullies and those of the Dark Triad: psychopaths, Machiavels and narcissists
How to deal with passive aggressives
How to truly listen
How to structure a difficult conversation and set boundaries
How to deal with others' emotions
How to get to 'I'm OK, You're OK'
How the Karpman Triangle plays out in conflicts at work, and how to reframe the roles and dynamic the three parties play
When to argue and when to walk away!
Why having an outcome is key to conflict resolution and dealing with difficult conversations
How to make it less personal, and understanding that it's often more about who they are - than you
Understand how to manage your emotions before and during the conversation
Use proven communication techniques to reduce stress, open communication, and build relationships
Instructor Details
- 4.6 Rating
396 Reviews
Peter Willis M.A.
"Loved this instructor. He presents the information in a clear way with engaging examples. I will be taking more of his courses." Jennifer Ripley, (Student on How to deal with Difficult People and Conflict Management course)
About me
I’m one of the course designers, course instructors and a co-founder of UnchainYourBrain. org and its sister company, Lequin Leadership Development, an international training, executive coaching, profiling and business psychology company.
After a career in publishing and marketing, I started working as an executive coach in 2005. I’ve coached leaders within many multinationals, including
- Clarks
- EDF
- National Australia Bank
- RWE Generation
- Lloyds of London
- BBC
- BHP Billiton
- BNP Paribas CIB
- Thames Water
- Dennis Publishing
- HSBC
- A number of charities, including the WWT, and schools.
So I’ve experienced a wide range of organisational cultures, and helped people with a range of coaching goals.
I’ve a psychology and sociology background, and my main interests and expertise are in relationship management, improving self confidence and self-esteem, and helping people develop authenticity.
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Reviews
By Bentje Sophie Vogt on 8/17/2026
Sadly one of the answers to the quiz said it was wrong, but then the right answer was also wrong. But besides that good course! :)
By Joe Stapp on 7/1/2025
It's a good match for me but the content is not very informative for me. However I'm a psychologist and know a lot of this information and teach my patients these same concepts. I can see how this would be helpful for those without being in my field.
By Olga Kozyreva on 4/7/2025
The course is addressing the most important issues of dealing with conflict. Although I knew some stuff from psycology and personal experience, I liked how the information is boiled down for practical use. Spesial thanks for downloadable article.
By Divya Lakshmanan on 2/24/2025
It was a well articulated and structured course, which was supported with a lot of real-life situation examples. The contents under each section were well explained. Overall it was an engaging and informative course.
By Brad on 10/29/2024
This course is brilliant - by far the best course on conflict management I've come across!! It's really helped me understand the psychology behind conflicts, and why we fall into certain roles - and how to get out of them. It's given me tips on how to deal with different types of difficult people (including bullies and passive aggressives) I've had arguments with. And crucially, it's great on how to get into the right mindset. Highly recommended!!! Thanks
By Meghan Miller on 9/1/2022
Excellent, though the resources, for the most part, are the same course workbook. I had thought there would be an assortment of articles, not the same document (workbook) featured as a Resource in every section. I find this to be misleading.
By Lydia on 4/30/2022
I would recommend this course to everyone. This course teach you not only how to deal with difficult people but also how to listen. Very informative course.
By Vursha Ranchod on 1/10/2021
Quite relevant to my current work situation. Hoping to acquire skills in dealing with difficult, arrogant people who constantly find and accentuate faults in public forums. I want to learn how to deal with this.
By Coralie Gibson on 8/31/2020
Found the content to be really informative and presented in a way that was easy to understand. Will go back over the information many times I think just to keep refreshing. Thank-you
By Brian Turner on 2/27/2020
I've listened and listened again. OK corral (tick), how to listen (tick), working with Physcos (tick). My tricky customer is smiling now. Double plus good.
Quality Score
No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.
Overall Score : 92 / 100






