As a woman in business, I’m well aware of the stereotypes. While it’s fine for a man to be aggressive in the workplace, when we assert ourselves, we’re often called ‘pushy’ or ‘bitchy,’ or have speculations made about our hormones.
Hypothetically, let’s say that my client, Lisa, has an assistant who runs about 15 minutes late at least three mornings each week. At first, Lisa would simply listen to the assistant’s excuse for her tardiness. “Traffic, the alarm didn’t go off, I couldn’t find my keys,” etc. Lisa’s patience soon wore thin, and her next approach was to demand the assistant’s compliance with the scheduled hours. “Or else.” The assistant, chastised, improved for a short period of time, but ultimately went back to her old, tardy ways. Lisa opted not to terminate the assistant’s employment because she was terrific at her job. Thus, they were at an impasse.
How could Lisa have turned the “or else” into motivation and encouragement ? Take a moment to think about your own business-related situation where you made a demand of someone, or someone made a demand of you. How did that sound? How was it received? Was it motivating to either continue the behavior or stop it? Or did it end in an impasse?
Mediators have tools to help work through these situations. I would love to sit down with you for a 30 minute initial consultation at no charge, and talk to you about the process. Feel free to contact me to set up an appointment.
Nancy Gabriel
www.mediationaroundthetable.com
(702) 561-8754
