Earlier this week, I have a very unpleasant phone call from one of my corporate clients. As you know, maintaining positive and healthy relationships – whether personal or professional – is essential to you own happiness and success. However, there will always be that ONE person who makes it challenging to maintain healthy relationship. I had that person this week.
I literally had that moment where you move the phone away from your ear and look at it like “Who in the world do you think you’re talking to?” – As if the person on the other end could hear me. LOL.
And I briefly thought about simply hanging up the phone to teach that person a lesson not to ever disrespect me again.
But, I took a deep breath and maintained my composure.
The truth of the matter is that although I cannot control the person on the other end of that phone line, I am in complete control of myself, my words, and my actions. No one can MAKE ME step out of character or MAKE ME forget my home-training unless I ALLOW them to.
It was hard, but I refrained from going off or hanging up the phone. Instead, I move the phone away from my ear until she was done with her rant. When she was done, I acknowledged her concerns and ended the phone call. Afterwards, I sent a professional email providing her with more details of the situation and the solution to her concerns.
There are a few things that I took away from this encounter:
- If I focused on trying to make her act a certain way, it would have made me look just as bad as she looked to me.
- This is not her first time being unreasonable and disrespectful. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person she treats this way in both her personal life and her professional life. Sooner or later, it’s going to catch up to her.
- For her to act this way each time we have an encounter, she probably is dealing with some inner pain and turmoil and she’s probably quite miserable. Realizing this help me to see her with more compassion.
- There were people watching me who commended me on how I handled her and the situation (I didn’t know anyone was watching me that closely)
Taking the higher road in unfavorable situations aren’t always the easiest thing to do. But when you maintain your composure, you dignity, and your self-respect, you always walk away from it better, stronger, and more respected. And that is what counts!
~Sherica
