How do you handle things when someone refuses to compromise and they harden their stance?

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle things when someone refuses to compromise and they harden their stance?

• I work around them. They’re not changing, and I need to get things done 36.87%
• I offer more concessions to see if I can get them to move 4.58%
• I get other people to pressure them to change their stance 5.30%
• I accept their position and go work on more fruitful work 10.36%
• I try to empathize and understand their concerns so I can soften their stance 42.89%

Avoid or Empathize? When faced with someone who refuses to compromise, it seems respondents choose one of two options – avoid the other person or empathize and try to change their position. For those of you whose first instinct is to avoid the person and work around them, consider trying to understand their position and soften it. There’s a reason they’re dug in. It might be a risk or an issue that you’re not considering and should be taken into account. If, however, they are clearly just being unreasonable and obstructionist, it’s probably time to move on and work around them. For those of you who do have a bias toward empathizing and trying to bring someone along, do decide when you’ll change approach and move forward rather than continue to delay your work. Sometimes all they’re doing is stalling for time and deliberately slowing you down.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.