March 31, 2016
Who we are and how we think generally informs our reactions to various complex situations in life. Your responses to any given situation, whether in business or personal life, often dictate unpleasant outcomes.
Rather than taking our time and responding in a professional, polite manner, we spend most of our lives reacting. We become accustomed to this kind of recognition in every situation we encounter. We often neglect to pause and reflect before responding to any personal remarks directed towards us.
How many times have you found yourself in this type of environment, whether it's a text, email, or a face-to-face confrontation? Instead of taking a deep breath, we respond with a text, email, or reply to the person we are conversing with. I acknowledge that I have made mistakes on numerous occasions. We all have been.
So how do we change our approach when facing confrontation? The first thing you should do is take a deep breath and allow your mind to calm down before you react to the irritating statement. Pause your thoughts and reflect on the words spoken or the information you've read. You might need to practice this several times until you feel comfortable with how you're starting to react now to the rude words; that would usually trigger a reply without thinking.
When dealing face-to-face with a hostile disagreement, you should just look at the person and watch how they react. Sometimes they will calm down, providing time for you to analyze the statement that agitated you. Now you can calmly reply to the remark with the smartest, most compassionate response possible. Sometimes the smartest thing to do is leave a bad situation. Some remarks are not worthy of a reply.
I have put together this slideshow to help you learn how to react with the correct choice of words. Therefore, the next time you encounter a perplexing situation, you will be more equipped to manage any complex dispute, whether via text, phone, email, or in person. You will be in total control and utterly amazed with your performance.
All the Best,
