A managers guide to handling challenging behaviour at work

Struggling to know what to say when someone’s behaviour is off?

Worried about making things worse or being seen as too harsh or too soft?

Whether you're managing a team or leading across departments, handling difficult behaviour is one of the toughest parts of being a manager. Most people aren’t trying to be difficult: they’re stuck in survival mode. But without the right tools, these moments can derail performance, morale, and your confidence as a leader.

This free session gives you the insight and language you need to handle tricky behaviour at work, with compassion and clarity.

This session is for you if…

• You’re a manager who wants to do the right thing, but finds behaviour hard to address
• You worry about saying the wrong thing—or nothing at all
• You’ve got people on your team who make things tense, awkward, or unproductive
• You want to lead with kindness and impact, especially when the pressure’s on

What you’ll learn:

✅ Why people act out and how stress and social threat drive difficult behaviours
✅ The 5 survival strategies most people default to (and how to spot them)
✅ The CALM framework a simple, powerful tool to de-escalate and re-engage
✅ How to respond rather than react, even when you’re triggered too
✅ Practical phrases and mindset shifts you can use straight away

Exclusive Bonus: get the manual for Just £27 (RRP £47!)

We’ve created a practical, in-depth manual to help you take your learning even further.
The Navigating Challenging Behaviour at Work Manual gives you

• 40+ pages of practical tools, frameworks, and examples
• Breakdown of each survival strategy with tailored responses
• Scripts, reflection questions, and planning templates

To get the manual at the reduced rate just click the workbook and ticket option and we'll email it to you.

Praise for 'Navigating Challenging Behaviour at Work' manual

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"If you manage people, you need this manual"
Every page is clear, concise, and useful. It helped me feel less overwhelmed by the 'people stuff' and gave me a way to talk about behaviour without blame or fear.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"A game-changer for difficult conversations"
The sample phrases, mindset shifts, and coaching questions made it easy to plan for tough one-to-ones. I keep going back to it. You can tell it’s written by someone who really knows the challenges managers face.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Finally, a resource that gets how messy people management can be"
I’ve read a lot of guides, but this is the first one that felt genuinely practical and human. The survival strategies section is gold!!!! It helped me understand why certain people push my buttons and what to do about it.

3 reasons why this is your next must-attend event!

1: A clear model for understanding and responding to difficult behaviour
When tensions rise, it’s easy to take things personally or say the wrong thing. You’ll learn a simple framework to decode difficult behaviour and respond with confidence.

2: Backed by neuroscience, made for managers
Using insights from neuroscience and our Conversational Engineering™ approach, you’ll discover why people flip into survival mode and how to bring them back.

3: Tools you can use immediately
You’ll leave with practical strategies you can apply in your next 1:1.

Praise for this event

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I attended your brilliant session yesterday. It was really helpful and interesting to understand the psychology and how the brain functions, especially in those fight and flight moments.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Fascinating content. I took away so many practical insights, especially around how to spot the survival strategies in action.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This session really shifted my thinking. It gave me a whole new lens for understanding the behaviours I see at work.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “The CALM framework is brilliant. Simple, memorable, and something I’ll be sharing with all my people managers.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “So much clicked for me. I’ve been managing people for years, but this explained why things get difficult and what to do about it.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I loved how neuroscience was brought into it without being overwhelming. It really helped me understand what’s going on beneath the surface.”

Talking @ Work Series

This webinar is part of the Talking @ Work series, designed to help leaders in technical and professional service teams . Each event offers practical, neuroscience-based strategies to boost communication, performance, and team cohesion.

In each session we’ll dive into a critical conversation topic from the workplace, using Conversational Engineering™ tools to equip you with the skills needed to achieve better outcomes. You'll learn how to have better conversations in your team, resolve conflicts productively, and foster collaboration: all through the power of effective communication.

Meet your hosts

Talking at work is co-hosted by Northern Value Creators founders Amanda and Simon.

Amanda Cookson

Amanda has over 20 years experience in the creative and Edu-Tech sectors, leading award winning multi-site teams. Amanda combines this experience with accredited professional coaching practice, helping organisations thrive by focusing on their people.

You can connect with Amanda via Linkedin AmandaCookson

Simon Cookson

With decades of experience leading teams and delivering change, Simon is passionate about challenging the myth that technical experts just aren't leadership material.

You can connect with Simon via Linkedin Simon Cookson

The Northern Value Creators Leadership Manifesto:

We can’t afford to keep getting it wrong,
Keep ignoring the humanness needed to thrive....

The human workplace isn’t cozy, it relishes challenge
and is committed to the cause.

We need to look at things from a different angle,
Where conversations trump competition
Where empathy is a skill you pay top $$$ for
Where leadership is a mindset, set free from hierarchy.

The way we worked in the past is useless as we face the future.
Stop telling people what to think, what to do and what to feel.

Your ambitions rest upon agility, innovation and resilience, not control or repetition.

Take care of trust more than your bottom line.
It gives your business everything it needs.