Keep calm

I used to work for a man who, even in those days, seemed slightly old fashioned. Unfailingly courteous, immaculately dressed with never a hair out of place, I do not think I ever saw him even loosen his tie. One of Nature’s chairmen, as I once heard someone put it.

He taught me at least one invaluable lesson. If you want to complain about some suggested new arrangements at work, go equipped with an alternative solution to propose. You might then get your way. Otherwise you are just adding to the burden & being a nuisance.

I was a bit surprised one day when a colleague confided that he did not really like working for Peter (not his real name) because “You never get any feed back, never know if you are doing a good job or not.”

Well you could always tell if Peter was really displeased; his face went a bit red & the steam, though barely discernible, rose gently from his ears. And I was once on the receiving end of what, I was in no doubt, was a serious reprimand: “Yes, well … but do you think that in future you might …?”

And it is not a male/female thing. Nature’s chairmen, negotiators & diplomats need this fine tuned awareness of others true feelings & reactions.

But some people really do need to have things spelled out to or for them, & we all have different methods of geeing ourselves up to face a challenge or a deadline.

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