This weekend, I gave a speech on dealing with difficult and we were discussing the strategy of making yourself vulnerable to combat a difficult person. Being vulnerable allows you to achieve some very valuable things in developing rapport with that difficult person.
First, you can start to build trust. Today, most people are exposed to a lot of talk, but very little action. They feel that many people aren’t genuine in their interactions. And as such, they don’t let their guard down. However, people react differently when they feel that you are being genuine and are also vulnerable as they are. Generally, by being vulnerable, you demonstrate that you are human too; you are not perfect; and if you have revealed something to make you vulnerable, it is safe for that person to open up to make a disclosure about him or herself.
