From “Dealing with Communication Failure,” “Step One: Manage Your Emotions. Self-awareness is critical in preventing and, when necessary, addressing conflict situations. The better you know yourself, the more you will avoid non-productive conflict. We all have certain “triggers” or hot buttons: things that cause us to get upset in any given situation. For example, you might be bothered by a certain tone of voice that signals disrespect to you. You might find lateness to a meeting offensive. You might hate when people interrupt you while you are talking or are engrossed in something else. You might have issues with the disorganization of the common areas of your office or home.
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Professionals often wonder why we need to talk about our feelings in a business context. But consider your work environment. Consider the conflict that has arisen in your work environment. All conflict implicates how you feel. If you were neutral (without positive or negative emotion) about everything, you would not experience conflict. Emotions are a part of every area of life, especially at work, where we spend a lot of time solving difficult problems and being with the same people for long periods of time. If ignored, emotions will cause problems in the business environment.…” (Coaching for Attorneys: Improving Productivity and Achieving Balance, Pages 205 – 206.) For more info, www.mclarencoaching.com/coaching-for-attorneys.
