Take of Breath

Your blood is boiling.

You are being ignored or, what feels worse, your ideas are being dismissed without serious consideration.

The next words out of your mouth may be explosive.

Is that the right thing for you to do?

Take a breath.

Exhale slowly.

Take one more breath and exhale slowly.

The strength of your convictions is admirable.

Really.

How you express them may dictate how you were seen within the organization for years.

Will your arguments make sense?

Will you be seen as a passionate advocate or a hotheaded irrational wacko?

Take a breath.

Take a moment to think.

What needs to be said here or NOT said here.

Responding to an email?

Write a draft but don’t send it.

An hour or two later, rewrite the beginning to start with, “I was thinking about the last message that was sent. It occurred to me that . . . “

You don’t need to explode to get your point across.

What you do need to do is to think about the person receiving the message and what they need to hear from you to understand your point.

Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2020

 

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a career and leadership coach who worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 1900 episodes, and is a Career Angles | Jeff Altman, The Big Game Huntermember of The Forbes Coaches Council.

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