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Dec 19, 2017
Brenda Smyth
Defensiveness is a natural tendency we all have for protecting ourselves from criticism. It is normal to be defensive. But getting defensive or causing defensiveness in others hinders progress. So it’s important to help minimize these reactions by planning a more thoughtful approach.
Picture yourself heading into a co-worker’s office. You want her to change the way she’s been providing updates to you. You’ve studied the situation and have some suggestions that shouldn’t cause her any additional work. But, you know she’s been handling this transfer of information the same way for years and she’s got a reputation of non-compromise.
What’s the best way to approach her so you’ll have more chance of success? Is there a way to word what you need that will make it more palatable?
Critical conversations with co-workers and bosses don’t have to lead to defensiveness or conflict.
When the initiator of these conversations takes time to carefully plan the conversation, the chance for success is much higher.
These suggestions from thereapychanges.com and schwarzassociates deserve consideration for the workplace:
Learning how to talk with people in a way that doesn’t make them defensive is not easy, because defensiveness is hardwired in our brains. It is not a dysfunction, suggests theleadershiphub.com. And since you can’t change someone else’s reaction, you must focus on your own delivery.
Brenda Smyth
Brenda Smyth is supervisor of content creation at SkillPath. Drawing from 20-plus years of business and management experience, her writings have appeared on Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com and Training Industry Magazine.
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