People can make you crazy. It’s just a fact of life.
And there are times in the professional world when people make us feel so frustrated, angry or hurt that we feel like blasting them apart with our words.
We may think, in some cases, that it is safe to engage in such destructive behavior. Maybe we are leaving a job or a community, and feel that we are free of the person forever. No retaliation seems possible, so there seems to be no harm in blowing off some steam by letting angry words fly.
But the truth is that we never know when we are going to encounter a person again. Even when we move completely across the country, change professions or end our involvement with a particular group, people often have a way of re-entering our lives in unexpected ways.
That teacher you had in fifth grade? Maybe now she is on the hiring committee for a job you want – three states away from your hometown. You know your cousin’s ex-husband? He is now your daughter’s band director – in another city.
This is why we should leave jobs on good terms. If we decide we can no longer be a part of an organization that has counted on us, we need to do our best not to leave them in a lurch.
The same is true when dealing with friends and neighbors. We need to keep our word – and to be the sort of people who can always explain our actions and reactions with our heads held high.
No comments:
Post a Comment