As product managers, we deal with lots of different kinds of people. We donât have authority, we can only influence, and itâs a difficult place to be.
Thereâs all sorts of people we encounter on the job and off the job that try to get under our skin. Usually these are people who have nothing they can actually do to us, which is why theyâre trying to mess with us.
This method only works if you have really good inner game, the practice to see yourself as separate from the emotion:
Visualize that person whoâs giving you shit as a chihuahua.
A chihuahua thatâs barking and making a lot of noise and going crazy, but is still a chihuahua behind a window pane or on a leash. If thereâs a really big dog being walked down the street and thereâs a chihuahua going crazy, the big dog wouldnât react and the person wouldnât react. They might turn their head, but they wouldnât do much more than that.
âĄïž When someone with no real power tries to get under your skin, visualize them as a barking chihuahua behind a window. Youâd turn your head to acknowledge, realize they canât actually do anything, and keep walking and forget about it.
Soft skills & hard conversations
The Chihuahua Method
Visualize difficult people as barking chihuahuas - acknowledge them, realize they canât hurt you, keep walking