Getting Along at Work: Work With Others Better, Resolve Relationship Problems, Become a Respected Coworker, and Enjoy Work More by Caleb Crider

Author:Caleb Crider [Crider, Caleb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-10-07T23:00:00+00:00

1. Which do you value more: saving a relationship or saving face? Describe the effect of an apology on a relationship.

2. What are specific words and actions that prove the sincerity of your apology?

3. What should you do if the offended person doesn’t accept your apology?

Chapter Thirteen

Improve Your Approachability

A few years ago a stray cat started hanging around our place. We put food out for her, and not surprisingly, she made herself at home. We named her Maggie.

It took several weeks for Maggie to warm up to us, but even after she let us get close enough to pet her, we noticed she was still very jumpy. When we walked by her, she would watch our feet like a hawk. Perhaps at her previous home she had been on the receiving end of some well-aimed kicks. Maggie had learned not to trust feet.

Unapproachability = isolation.

Like Maggie, have you ever felt jumpy and unsafe around certain people? I have. On the flip side, probably a few people have felt unsafe being around me. Not that they feared I would kick them, but they feared being emotionally hurt by my words or actions.

Our coworkers will act just like Maggie if they don’t trust our reactions. If we frequently hurt our coworkers, they will learn to stay away from us. If they never know when they will step on a land mine, they’ll stay out of our territory. Flying off the handle and hitting the ceiling doesn’t only hurt your head, it hurts your coworkers’ hearts.

When our coworkers avoid us this way, we will become isolated from workplace camaraderie as they stop sharing their thoughts and experiences with us. People will be afraid to alert us when they notice something going wrong. Because they will become accustomed to avoiding us, they probably won’t even congratulate us when we do something right.

What else happens if we become isolated?

• We are more likely to be left out of the loop on important conversations and decisions.

• We lose opportunities to contribute our point of view or expertise.

• We experience less fulfillment and more frustration at work.

• We develop a warped view of reality because we are no longer seeing the full picture.

• We are more likely to be cynical (and wrong) about others’ motives and their work.

This is not the kind of environment we want to work in! How can we improve our approachability and keep this from happening to us?

Pay attention to how people approach you.

We all want people to let us know (kindly) when we’re doing something wrong or when there is an area in which we can improve. They won’t give us this favor if we are not approachable. The best way to increase our approachability is to make others feel safe around us.

I liked jokes and ridiculous sayings when I was young. Somewhere I picked up this little ditty: “Tie a donkey to a tree / Pull its tail and think of me.” I can only imagine what happens when you pull

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.