In the previous two topics, you’ve seen how important it is to communicate skillfully in the workplace. However, communicating effectively is not the only aspect you need to be mindful of, you also need to be aware of your personal impact, the effect you have during your interactions with co-workers and clients. The next two topics explore a personal impact. It’s important to remember that the things you do and say affect people around you. If you are not careful, your words and actions can have unintended or unexpected consequences. To achieve professional success, you need to pay attention to how you manage your personal interactions. In this topic, you will learn how behaving assertively, not aggressively, can positively influence people. Let’s begin by understanding the role that perception plays in our interactions with others. People perceive you not only through what you say, but also through nonverbal cues. It’s important to behave in a manner that generates trust and respect. Often, in challenging or tough situations, you may say or do things that change the way people respond to you, which in turn can impact mutual respect. Let’s look at a story that explores a challenging situation.
Zion’s dilemma
Zion is a seller who has been working in a start-up for the past two years.
It was 4 o’clock on a Friday evening, and Zion was relieved. He had worked almost non-stop to finish a proposal so that he could get home early for a family night. As he was turning off his laptop, Hannah, his manager walked in.
Hannah asked Zion to review a proposal. She was apologetic; she’d meant to talk to him earlier, but it had slipped her mind. While this could wait till Monday, she preferred to have the reviewed proposal in her inbox by 5:30 that evening. Zion sighed and looked at his watch. “It won’t take you long,” Hannah promised. Zion relented and thought he would inform his family that he would be a little late.
Zion’s story shows the importance of being assertive. Had he been assertive, he could have voiced his feelings and opinions to his manager.
What does assertiveness mean?
Save note It is a common perception that being assertive as the same as being aggressive, but it’s not true. Both assertive and aggressive communication involves stating your needs. However, the difference lies in the way you do it. The key to communicating assertively is to express your feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and opinions in an open manner that respects the rights of others, in addition to yourself. And in a globally connected workplace, it’s essential to be sensitive to the fact that you’re well intentioned assertive behavior might be perceived or received differently by global colleagues, especially from an authority perspective.
Let’s explore how assertive behaviors compares with other common behaviors that you might encounter in the workplace.
Some common behaviors that you might experience in the workplace are assertive, aggressive, passive aggressive, and passive. Besides assertive behavior, the three other behaviors can negatively influence others and cause trouble in the workplace.
Let’s find out how they stack up against each other. People behaving assertively demonstrate self-confidence, they are honest and clear with their views and encourage other people to share their views. They believe their rights should not be denied, but they will not pursue those rights at the expense of others. People demonstrating assertive behavior, speak calmly with no fear of not being heard.
Consequently, they rarely feel the need to interrupt others and are in firm control of their emotions. People displaying aggressive behavior believe that their rights must be respected at any cost.
They are prone to thinking they can’t be wrong and are not very receptive to other opinions. They like to be in control and tend to speak loudly, sometimes interrupting others. They can come off as intimidating and rude. Passive aggressive behavior is a sneaky hidden form of aggression.
People behaving passive aggressively will conceal their feelings, but they secretly set traps or maneuver behind the scenes to get their way and punish those who crossed them.
Because of their hidden or pent up feelings people exhibiting passive aggressive behavior can come across as dishonest and ambiguous. People behaving passively display low self-confidence, they don’t speak their minds and hardly ever stand up for themselves.
Passive behaviors often the outcome of people believing that other people’s rights and views carry more weight than their own. People behaving passively fear confrontation and will avoid any risk of disturbing relationships. They rarely say no and rarely contribute to group discussions. Transcript language: English