say what?

I once had to approach a colleague regarding how they interacted with their peers.  The issues was he was humiliating others through comments, yet an interesting thing happened when I brought this to his attention.  He said - "I don't yell at anybody, I think you are mistaken."  He was correct, he didn't yell, scream or even raise his voice.  What he did do was make quick, sly, and sarcastic comments that undermined peoples beliefs or work.  Neuroscience has shown cruel words make the same parts of the brain react that physical pain action do.  So it is clear - words really do hurt.  And humiliating publicly or even in private is not a way to lead or be a great teammate.  Fortunately for us my colleague was willing to listen, self examine and adjust.  And became a team member we all could accept and respect personally as much as we did professionally.

Love Always - Coach J

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