Don't Get Sucked In
I lost my cool this weekend. I am not sure why it happened but it did. I hate that!
Without going into too much detail I got into a verbal jousting match with someone that I shouldn't have. It was over something stupid but in my desire to be right, I ended up being wrong. Wrong in my thoughts. Wrong in my words. Wrong in my actions. Just wrong.
I let this person infuriate me over something that originally wasn't even my issue. I thought I was helping another person out and in the end found myself squarely in the middle of something that I didn't need to be nor should have been in in the first place.
How often does this happen to us in our professional live? Two people have an issue or minor disagreement and we inevitably choose sides. But choosing sides often isn't enough as we have to perpetuate the situation with commentary, behind the back talking or outright frontal assault. Suddenly we find that someone else's battle has become our own and the waters of corporate unity start getting bloody. I have seen this exact scenario play out in many corporate teams and it has the power to literally rock companies to the core. Ultimately leaving damaged egos, hurt feelings and often a landscape of walking wounded that somehow need to unite to get the product or service sold.
This weekend's scenario didn't play out in the corporate boardroom or in the cubicle jungle but it could just have easily done so. My ego fired up before my much cooler head and heart had a chance to kick in and take control. Before you know it things were spiraling out of control and I was being brought down to a level that I wasn't comfortable with. It was easy to see how I would have likely sucked in my co-workers or teammates and made my misery theirs if this had played out in a work environment.
Best advice, when disputes, disagreements, outright arguments happen in the workplace, stay put and resist putting in your two cents. Don't get sucked in. Just say no. Let your cooler head and heart have a chance to catch up and pass that mouth of yours that might be tempted to say something you probably shouldn't.
Ripple On!!!
Steve
2 comments:
Thanks Steve for those encouraging comments. I have a couple of friends who may be interested in coming to future "Ripple Effect" events and who would like more information about the ripple effect. Thanks for getting me through today when I was having a bad (ugly) Monday day. See you (and the rest of the gang soon).
Your friend, Greg .
I really got a chuckle from this story! Being personally acquainted with you, I can easily see you getting into such a conversation because you are intense and passionate and about what (and apparently ‘who’) you believe in. We all have our less than stellar moments. But, just think about it this way - that exchange provided you the opportunity to remind those who follow your blog everyday that we are all human, that it is OK to have opinions though they need not always be shared, and that sometimes it is best to let others work out their differences without our input - hard as that may be.
Keep up the good work, you really are making a difference!
Lisa G.
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