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Do not let personal feelings override business priorities

There are many people who get frequently upset at work. Are you one of them? Do you feel unduly disturbed when someone comes late to a meeting or if someone commits a mistake? Do you take it personally when your boss rejects your project proposal? If yes, then it’s time to change your attitude and focus on gaining some professional maturity.

At the workplace, things don’t always go your way. It is not a good sign if you get easily upset by the negative turn of events. Great leaders often owe their success to the professional maturity they display at work.

You must recognise that both favourable and unfavourable events are part of life. Getting angry or harbouring negative feelings will not help you in the least in setting things right. Therefore, stop taking things personally and also avoid getting into personal conflicts. Instead, focus on how to achieve desired business outcomes. Go to the root cause of negative happenings and find potential solutions to avoid their recurrence. This way you will not only be able to keep your cool but also improve your effectiveness manifold. Sometimes you face particularly annoying situations at work. For instance in spite of your efficiency and hard work you are passed over for a promotion or a meaty assignment you have been aspiring for, goes to somebody else. Or your well-researched ideas and inputs do not get acceptance from your boss.

Worse still, a project on which you have been working really hard is shelved midway. Being the emotional kind, you tend to view events like these as a conspiracy against you. Though these events are unfortunate, you must realise that getting angry or carrying negative feelings will only make matters worse. Negative thoughts often impair your judgement. More than negative events, negative feelings stall your growth and progress at work. So, set aside your bitterness and concentrate instead on turning the winds in your favour.

Work closely with your boss to understand where you are falling short and what you must do better to get the desired promotion or assignment the next time. Actively seek feedback from your boss, peers and colleagues to develop a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Take the help, support and advice of these people to overcome your weaknesses and fine-tune your strengths. You can even look for a mentor to guide you in this regard.

If you have the habit of taking things personally, just about anybody- your boss, colleagues, clients and subordinates can cause stress to you. For instance, one of your colleagues is always late to work and never meets a deadline.

You easily get upset because he does not take his job as seriously as you do. Or you value perfection and therefore get annoyed when your subordinates commit mistakes.

You are also upset when a client puts undue pressure or sets unrealistic deadlines. Even a simple issue such as disagreement with a colleague causes you much distress.

While you can control some of the negative happenings you have little or no control over others. But always remember that you will be in a better position to handle any situation when you are calm and composed than when you are upset. At work, the success of your assignment and your organisation on the whole are more important. So set aside your ego. Whether you win an argument or lose, things go your way or not, what matters is attaining business goals. Strive to do everything that helps you achieve business success.

Avoid harbouring negative feelings and start working on finding a workaround for routine issues. While trying to find solutions, first look to yourself.

Be willing to adapt your behaviour according to situational needs. If tardy people are causing you stress, work with them to help them appreciate value of time. This can remedy the situation to a good extent. When someone makes a mistake, exercise tolerance.

Guide them appropriately or give them additional training and inputs so that they learn doing things in a better way.

In case of disagreements with colleagues, try to understand their perspectives as well. Look for a middle ground that is superior to your initial approach.

At work, personal milestones matter but priority must always be given to what’s best for the organisation. You must passionately carry out your job but never forget to draw a line between personal feelings and business.

N. PURNIMA SRIKRISHNA

-The Hindu