As a passionate and yes, dramatic person in this field (and I'm nowhere near alone,) I tend to have a short fuse. I speak before thinking, whether trying to be funny, relay a point or defend my position on something, and that doesn't always go over well for me.
People who get close to me are sometimes put off by my directness at first, but the ones who scratch down just a bit learn that I really mean well. Where the heck am I going with this? Hold on! The strange rambling is almost past!
I am the king of apologies. That isn't something that I really feel deserves bragging rights, but it is something that I am proud to know about myself. In my time with KC Ballet, I haven't had any major disciplinary problems that I can think of. This is because when an abrasive moment happened, I would always cool my jets and go to the person in charge(whoever that was in the situation) and apologize for my behavior if I felt that was warranted. As a result, I feel that I was able to cultivate trusting relationships with my employers. Am I saying that I should be given an "Employee of the Decade" award? Gosh no!! What I am proud of is that overall, looking back on my career and my work ethics and relational behavior with my employers, I feel safe that I can leave not worrying if they liked me or not.
That is a big need and insecurity of mine-the need to be liked. I'm working on not caring about it so much, but when it comes to my business, heck yeah I need to be liked! Being fired would stink!
There is power in being able to apologize for a situation that has gotten out of hand or at least be able to discuss it. Things can get handled so much more efficiently when they're handled calmly. This is so hard for me, but the ability to remind myself that I am dealing with people-many different levels, but they're all people, helps me as I strive to learn how to be the consummate professional and human being. I could tell some extremely funny stories of semi-"fits" I have thrown now and again. There haven't been many over the years, but the words and actions that I've used during them have often left me the legendary butt of the joke! I believe if people could be filmed while in a temper tantrum, we would laugh so hard and be extremely embarrassed of how childish we look. This is one of the reasons that I always try to resolve any issues that have resulted with an out lash-whether by myself or someone higher up.
The moral of the story today: People are people. Learn to treat them as such. Learn to apologize(even if it's unclear if you are entirely in the wrong.) Finally, if after taking these steps you're unhappy with other's treatment of you, walk away. If you are satisfied, sit tight and have an awesome overall experience wherever you are as I have been fortunate to have had.
....and it ain't over yet....
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