by Merrilee Kittelstad
Part One - People are Just People
All change is not growth, but all growth involves change. The significant strides we make with our personal progress inevitably happen in relationships—that’s why they are so darn hard. And because we spend so much of our time with co-workers, work becomes a veritable petri dish of personal growth.
Our toughest experiences teach us the most, and often the people in our lives who are the most difficult to endure are the ones who refine us the most. All day long, we are either learning or teaching, and if we can understand what makes other humans tick, we can make those workplace learning experiences (that’s code for those periodic ‘run-ins’ with difficult people or situations) easier for everyone and maybe even enjoyable.
What’s Rule #1? Relax!
People are just people. Let’s be honest—on occasion you feel like everyone in the world is defective except you. How did people get to be so weird and you are the only sane one on this big ball? (Admit it; you’ve thought the same thing.)
I sit in the middle of the sales floor at my job and have a bird’s-eye view (front row seat, if you will) to a lot that happens in my company. I see all kinds of weird behavior—people whispering, people laughing, people gossiping, people arguing etc., and I just shake my head in disbelief at most of it.
People’s differences and peculiarities are what we love and hate about them. Those flaws that give the color to our personalities—are they not the same flaws that draw people to us? In fact, no one likes to be around anyone that is perfect … or thinks they are.
When we understand that everyone is weird it allows us to let our guard down and show our own weirdness. It gives us permission to just be ourselves! Good thing, because we’re no good at being anyone else, anyway. But in so doing we give others the freedom to be themselves—withholding judgment and just accepting them for their peculiarities instead of rejecting them for their imperfections.
At the end of the day, people will never be perfect. They will always disappoint and ‘come up short’. By accepting that fact in others, we can accept it in ourselves, and understanding that can make our interactions with coworkers less stressful and more enjoyable.
Coming next week – Rule #2!
