9 to 5 : It's enough to drive you crazy (if you let it)
Work not quite working for you? Struggling to get along with your colleagues? Being driven mad by one particular co-worker who just seems to press all your buttons?
As Carl Jung said “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves”.
With this in mind, here are our 3 steps to navigating your 9 to 5…..
Step 1: Take a hard look at yourself
Write out a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Then look at the weaknesses and work out what potential strengths you could gain from each one – how could you do better? Then look at your strengths. Be honest – are you overstating how good you are at something? Taking a hard look at yourself can sometimes force you to recognize how others might view you.
Step 2: Take a hard look at others
Struggling to work out what it is that really bugs you about a co-worker? Often the things we really dislike in others are aspects of our self that we really don’t like. Take some time to write out the things you really don’t like about the other person. Then read over the list and ask yourself if you recognize any of those irritating qualities in yourself.
Step 3: It’s about give and take
Good relationships are about giving people what they want – not what you want to give them. So the first step is to work out what the other person wants out of the work relationship they have with you. There are two ways of doing this. You can observe their behavior. This is a bit tricky, as it’s not always easy to read people. Far easier is just to come out and ask them – “How would you like me to communicate with you?”