Thursday, February 3, 2011

Polite and powerful positive confronting

I wrote recently about positively confronting people. It does not come easily to me. I did it today, after first botching it. At first I didn't say what I meant. I was off subject. I thought about it a while, and went back to the person and said exactly what I wanted to say. It felt good, and produced good results.

Then, later I was at the big box store and saw a young man I like a lot. He is smart, funny, and has a good attitude. He is a cashier there, but today, because cart-pushers were calling in sick due to the snowy weather, his supervisor asked him to push carts all day. When I saw him it was turning dark, and thus, colder. He has had a bad cold for the past five days. His voice is raspy.

I asked him if he told his supervisor that he has been battling a cold. He replied, "They know. All they have to do is listen to me talk." I told him that what they need is to hear him tell them that he has been sick, and should not be outside pushing carts. He said, "I don't want to bitch, and I feel bad for the guys who are out there. They need help."
I said, "But you are going to jeopardize your recovery from your illness."
He said, "Oh, no doubt. My mom is really mad."
So, I asked him to think about saying to his supervisor, "I have been sick, and have not fully recovered. I would really like to help the guys outside, but I think I should stay inside, so I don't relapse."
He said he would think about it. A half hour later I saw him again, and he was on his way in to tell his supervisor just that. I'll be anxious to hear how that came out.

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