Your predecessor was run out of town on a rail

Avoid the temptation to agree that he/she was a jerk – no matter how jerky they were. There is not value in running them down and you don't want to encourage negative thinking – you might be next.

• If they did something bad, agree that it was bad thing to do
• If what they did/said/were is subjective, let let it go without comment
• “Ok” “what do you know” and “um” are good responses to attacks on the person
• Better is: “that was then, this is now. We don't have to worry about that now