Anger at work
Have you ever been angry at work? Maybe a colleague doesn’t support you well, you don’t like the new boss, you are not happy with your own results, you have been assigned to something you don’t like, you received negative feedback. Well, it happens. I would not like to say it is normal, but more than one has passed through this negative emotion in the working life. It is also happening outside work, isn't it?
Don’t worry you are not alone. The key is how to handle this negative emotion in a good way because if you don't, then your stress level can reach challenging high levels, your leadership style will be undermined, your cooperation with your colleagues will diminish,people actually will naturally move away from you and your career is condemned to fail.
There are individuals (not leaders in my opinion) who develop anger very easily and quickly at work. Those individuals start to blame, shame and scream at others, misbehaving in front of other people, shouting at someone in a meeting with another team or talking bad about someone not present in the room.
In a recent survey conducted by Harvard, they showed that manifestations of anger were verified in 57% of the companies surveyed, and this image is not very pleasant, neither for the individual nor for the people around them.
But for everything there is a solution and my meditation master Stephen Procter helped me to understand that when some emotion comes into the mind it is necessary just to focus a bit on the emotion and note mentally. The emotion will slowly dissolve, in this way we can free up our mind and keep ongoing with more positive thoughts.
8 steps for handling your anger at work
It sounds easy and it is but like many things in life, it takes some practice, so let me suggest to you a meditation that you can do anywhere and anytime you find anger rising in your mind and in your heart. You can do it in 5 minutes, but better if you can take at least 10.
Seat in a comfortable position, in your chair or on the floor.
Close your eyes gently and observe the panorama of your mind.
Breath, inhale and count till 3. Exhale and count till 6, and let the stress go. Repeat this 3 or 4 times.
Just put your attention to the emotion of anger, and try to observe in which part of the body you feel it.
Note mentally observing that place in your body, the word "anger", and repeat it till the anger will dissolve.
Just stay and observe, and if the anger comes back to your mind, just repeat the word "anger" again and again.
Open to external sounds.
Open your eyes.
And just think how it went. If it improves, then you will be able to be more at ease, more creative, innovative and have much better relationships with your team, bosses and peers. It's an easy solution to a pretty big problem with emotions.
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If you wish let me know if you practiced it and how was your experience.
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