Get the Elephant Out of the Room: Outsmart Difficult People at Work

Chris Webber
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In this practical and powerful podcast series, Christopher Webber reveals the lessons he has learned through a varied and illustrious career: success at work isn’t about what you say—it’s about how you say it.  He talks to a variety of people about their experiences of difficult people and shares insights you can use to overcome the challenging people who slow down decisions and create negativity.  The podcast accompanies the book, Get the Elephant Out of the Room available on Amazon, eBook and on the website www.gettheelephantout.com  Managers who micromanage, colleagues who self-promote, and customers who push boundaries. Difficult people aren’t just annoying—they’re career roadblocks. But what if you could turn them into stepping stones to success?

  1. 1D AGO

    Surviving a Parental v Adult Onslaught

    How to cope when a colleague shouts at you and becomes parental!  In this episode I talk to Mary Gregory who shares her experience from the past.  The lesson is that timing matters, but also that you need to respond with intention, not emotionally.  The patience to allow them to vent and to allow them to exhaust the emotion is a great start. It is important to let them feel heard, but not to allow them to win.  We discuss the mechanism of Transactional Analysis and how power can affect culture, with some very interesting currency!  Mary talks about how meeting rooms can be used as a power lever. Mary Gregory is an award winning Executive Coach and author of the book Ego:Get Over Yourself & Lead.  She works with senior leaders who want to lead with authenticity, navigate complexity with clarity, and grow real, grounded confidence. Much of her work focuses on supporting women and those navigating systemic barriers, but she also coaches male leaders committed to conscious, inclusive leadership. Follow Mary Gregory on LinkedIn Chris Webber - Founder Foxleigh Commercial Performance Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Buy my book - Get the Elephant Out of the Room. Outsmart Difficult People at Work www.gettheelephantout.com I share my experiences and insights into various profiles of difficult people at work. Through stories and my personal experiences, I explain how you can achieve success despite them.  Receive my Newsletter⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    38 min

  2. 12/17/2025

    The Importance of Grit

    Paula Tully is dedicated to creating leaders with intention, but her journey of success is an inspiring one littered with grit and vision. In this episode we discuss the 6 “C’s” that form the heart of her coaching, but we delve into some of the toughest times in her life and share how Paula’s grit and optimism fuelled her through some very tough moments and set her on the path to today. Now she shares her wisdom with others and her focus on happiness and the dance of life is an inspirational message to her dozens of senior clients.”   More information about Paula: Website : https://escentia.co.uk/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-tully-18367313/   Buy my book - Get the Elephant Out of the Room. Outsmart Difficult People at Work I share my experiences and insights into various profiles of difficult people at work. Through stories and my personal experiences, I explain how you can achieve success despite them.  www.gettheelephantout.com Receive my Newsletter⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    49 min

  3. 10/09/2025

    Difficult Performance Management Discussions.

    Performance Management. Every leader's responsibility, but not everyone can retain difficult people. Most destroy the motivation of the whole team and their own reputation by mishandling sensitive conversations.  In this episode, I talk to Jose Aguilar about his experiences living and working in different cultures and how he managed a very difficult conversation with a team member who was no longer delivering up to standards.  ----more---- Buy my book - Get the Elephant Out of the Room. Outsmart Difficult People at Work I share my experiences and insights into various profiles of difficult people at work. Through stories and my personal experiences, I explain how you can achieve success despite them.  www.gettheelephantout.com Receive my Newsletter⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    52 min

  4. 09/24/2025

    Get The Elephant Out Of The Room Book Launch Event

    We invited an audience to join us at The Orchard for the launch of my book. In this episode, listen to an exclusive reading of an extract and hear an interview with me, Chris, talking about writing the book and answering audience questions about difficult people at work.  ----more---- Buy my book - Get the Elephant Out of the Room. Outsmart Difficult People at Work I share my experiences and insights into various difficult profiles and explain how you can achieve despite them.  www.gettheelephantout.com Receive my Newsletter⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ----more----

    58 min

  5. 09/03/2025

    Coping With Early Promotion

    Early promotion in a career is not always a blessing. When you are young, self-doubt creeps in, and you have to deal with difficult conversations with colleagues and team members.  In this honest conversation, Helen shares her lessons, and we discuss imposter syndrome, trust, self-confidence and courage.  ----more---- Buy my book - Get the Elephant Out of the Room. Outsmart Difficult People at Work I share my experiences and insights into various difficult profiles and explain how you can achieve despite them.  www.gettheelephantout.com Receive my Newsletter⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ----more---- Helen Lynch Helen has 23+ years’ senior retail experience across six major UK retailers, including roles as Head of Buying, Head of Category Management, and Licensing Manager. She deeply understands what retailers want from brands and how to deliver it. Combining this with her practitioner expertise as a development coach and former teacher, Helen now runs her own business helping brand owners and licensees win new retail contracts and build lasting partnerships through tailored retail and licensing strategies and retail specific relationship skills training, offering a rare buyer-side perspective that unlocks opportunity and accelerates growth.   hello@helenlynchcoaching.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    50 min

  6. 06/24/2025

    Strategic Advice for Digital Doubters

    In this special episode I invited an especially chosen panel to discuss the challenges of excellence in digital sales and marketing.   We explore what brands get wrong when trying to sell direct to consumers, we discuss the value of third party sellers and retail partners and we offer our advice for executives debating the importance of digital channels in their growth plans. Panel members: Iana Volshmid Kelli Peter David Williams Alex Walker David Royale Jim Chetwode ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   If you have to deal with difficult people at work then you should subscribe to my newsletter.    Every 2 weeks, I send an email directly to the inbox of thousands of people with insights, advice and actions that are usually reserved for paying clients.    I unpick the behaviours of various difficult people, explain their motives and offer tips to help people like you to deliver more and gain a commercial edge.    Subscribe here to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠receive the Foxleigh Newsletter.

    1h 1m

  7. 06/11/2025

    When Leadership Let Us Down

    With AI knowledge loses value and we instead need people who are incredible collaborators, can solve problems and influence.    Unless we educate them we will not get them, but as the value of hourly charging reduces we have the chance to build magnificent development apprenticeship schemes.    In this episode I explan why we need to avoid becoming difficult people blocking the learning we need for the next generation who will deliver results for our businesses.    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   If you have to deal with difficult people at work then you should subscribe to my newsletter.    Every 2 weeks, I send an email directly to the inbox of thousands of people with insights, advice and actions that are usually reserved for paying clients.    I unpick the behaviours of various difficult people, explain their motives and offer tips to help people like you to deliver more and gain a commercial edge.    Subscribe here to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠receive the Foxleigh Newsletter.

    22 min

  8. 05/28/2025

    Breaking the Rules of Society

    There are 7 unspoken rules of society that we follow. When we break them we create an emotional reaction. In this episode I explore how they might affect business partnerships and the implications for customer relationships and internal partnerships.   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you have to deal with difficult people at work then you should subscribe to my newsletter.    Every 2 weeks, I send an email directly to the inbox of thousands of people with insights, advice and actions that are usually reserved for paying clients.  I unpick the behaviours of various difficult people, explain their motives and offer tips to help people like you to deliver more and gain a commercial edge.  Subscribe and join this exclusive group using the link below    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Receive the Foxleigh Newsletter⁠⁠⁠

    27 min
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About

In this practical and powerful podcast series, Christopher Webber reveals the lessons he has learned through a varied and illustrious career: success at work isn’t about what you say—it’s about how you say it.  He talks to a variety of people about their experiences of difficult people and shares insights you can use to overcome the challenging people who slow down decisions and create negativity.  The podcast accompanies the book, Get the Elephant Out of the Room available on Amazon, eBook and on the website www.gettheelephantout.com  Managers who micromanage, colleagues who self-promote, and customers who push boundaries. Difficult people aren’t just annoying—they’re career roadblocks. But what if you could turn them into stepping stones to success?

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