A thought by Chad Veach from his book, I Work with People (p. 66). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
That is very good productive question to ask yourself.
Chad says, "Your go-to dysfunction is the negative and perhaps even destructive behavior that indicates your emotional state is not where it should be. Everyone has one—or more—of these dysfunctions, but not everyone admits it. If you’re not sure what yours is, just ask your spouse, your friends, or the people you work with every day, and they can probably tell you! How do you start to break down under pressure? What sort of destructive behavior are you prone to? Put another way, when you lose it, what does it look like? Those might sound like depressing questions, but identifying your tendencies under pressure is actually a positive, wise, and proactive step toward keeping your emotional ups and downs from hurting people."
He goes on, "There’s a reason new vehicle models go through numerous crash tests before they hit the market. Engineers want to determine potential points of failure with a couple of crash dummies rather than putting human lives in danger. Based on the results of those tests, they improve their product proactively.
"You might not be able to practice your leadership on crash dummies, but you can look at how you’ve 'crashed' in the past—that is, how you’ve reacted when stressed. Do you shut down? Do you lash out? Do you blow up? Do you give up? Do you look for an escape, maybe through substance abuse or other self-destructive behavior? Do you make rash decisions? Do you run away? Do you get depressed? Do you have panic attacks? Do you binge-watch entire seasons of reality shows while eating deep-fried Oreos and posting depressing memes on social media?"
He continues, "No one wants to think they are 'acting too emotional' or 'getting carried away,' but we all do it from time to time. If you can learn to identify the signs that your emotions have hijacked your thoughts, you’ll be able to adjust your actions and words accordingly. You’ll know when to dismiss the meeting and go play a round of golf, for example, or when to delegate a task to someone else."
He then says, "Again, there is no shame in identifying your dysfunction—that is actually bravery, humility, and honestly. The biggest mistake would be hiding or ignoring your dysfunction until it hurts someone when stress gets the best of you."
So let's not high our dysfunction but identify and deal with it. That would really make a difference wouldn't it, in dealing with others?
Yes yes!
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