Your boss consistently asks you to work on weekends, and you say ‘yes’ every time despite having family plans.
Your supervisor undermined you again in front of your colleagues. Though you struggle to digest the humiliation, you couldn’t bring to speak about it to your supervisor.
If you find yourself close to any of such situation, then you are like any person who doesn’t know the art of assertiveness.
Assertiveness is a type of behavior which a person uses to express his/her needs in a healthy, prosocial manner. Being unable to speak up at the workplace can have long-lasting negative consequences, and it often leads to accumulation of stress, burnout, bad-mouth, anger and frustration. When you are assertive, you talk openly about your needs and pinpoint when someone takes advantage of you. However, it is difficult to identify genuinely assertive behavior as there is a fine line between assertiveness and aggression. Every employee wants to be acknowledged in his/her workplace. While many employees are experts in the art of assertiveness, some feel powerless and subjugated because they are unable to express themselves with confidence and clarity. This keeps getting worse as you rise up the ranks and do not find a solution.
The art to assertiveness doesn’t come easily for everyone, but one can always master it with the right approach. Let us learn how.
The first step towards becoming more assertive is to develop a realistic and respectful perspective on your worth as a person, an Appreciated employee. Many people either attribute their failures to internal flaws or give credit of successes to luck. It contributes to self-doubt and a sense of worthlessness. You cannot be assertive unless you value yourself as an esteemed employee. Take a step back and consider your contribution to your job. Take a quiet internal assessment and scrutinize your flaws, mistakes, and failures, which can potentially cloud your ability to see your positive attributes.
Demanding bosses, difficult co-workers, tough clients – it is pretty challenging to deal with bullying, confrontations and challenging people. You can sign up for our training course that offers key techniques to handle bullying, confrontations, and tough people. It teaches you how to say “No” without having to change who you are. After completion of this course, you will be able to:
Many people lower their voices as they happen to believe that speaking up is synonymous to being bossy and disrespectful of other people. Being assertive is not meant to be any of those things.It only means to give value to you as well as others’ thoughts, feelings, and voice. You can continue to be a polite, likable employee while communicating directly. However, there is a big difference between “I respectfully disagree” and “What a stupid idea!”On the other hand, aggression portrays restless body language and raising the voice beyond a certain level. Aggressive behavior may germinate to negative emotions, interpersonal conflicts, and situational constraints at workplace.
Being assertive opens the doors of communication, and being aggressive either narrows down or shuts down the conversation.
In many cases, people can’t be assertive as they have limited knowledge of their rights. Educate yourself on the things you are entitled to at your workplace. It may include going through your employee policy manual, job description, big wall of posted notices. Learning to be assertive in the office includes being aware of the legal and ethical boundaries you can expect from your work environment. For instance, if you are expected to work on weekends, and you are aware that this expectation violates laws in your country, it can support your desire to stand up for your needs and rights.
Learning the art of being more assertive not only reduces your stress but also makes you feel more confident about yourself.
For more queries or inquiry about our training programs and courses, contact us on +91 22 20888690/91 or drop an email on team@silverbrookcenter.com.
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