Embrace A Little Controlled Hostility When Confronting Others

When we have to confront someone else, it’s tempting to remove any and all hostility to the point of watering down our frustration completely. Outbursts aren’t helpful, but remembering why you’re annoyed and standing up for that feeling can help.

Picture: Final Gather

As business blog Entrepreneur points out, confrontation is designed to smooth over conflict between two people. If your method of resolving conflict is to sugarcoat it so much that the other person doesn’t understand that it’s a big deal to begin with (or worse, thinks you’re just joking!) then nothing actually gets solved. You’re annoyed enough to speak up, so act like it:

The only thing worse than a sour expression during a confrontation is a smile, which is an insult to the topic at hand and to the person you’re smiling at. Confronting people is serious business and should be treated as such.

How you express hostility, of course, should be handled with tact. Don’t fly off the handle, accuse the other person of “always” doing this, or “never” doing that. Manage your seething rage. But don’t polish it up so much that no one can even know you’re mad. Nothing will get resolved that way.

How to Handle Confrontation at Work [Entrepreneur]