"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." - Warren Buffett
This week I found myself in a work meeting which, for reasons that are unimportant, had me in a state of confusion. Confusion makes me anxious; anxiety makes me irritable.
As the ranking manager in the meeting, I had the power to unleash some harsh thoughts and hijack it from the leader.
Fortunately, that time-strengthened sense of self-examination kicked in.
Things are rarely as bad as they seem.
Just because I'm confused doesn't mean that the rest in the room are.
It's an 8:00 a.m. meeting and I've had no breakfast. That may be the real driver of crabbiness.
Harsh words are not respectable.
Bad moods fade, and troubled projects can be fixed, much faster than harsh words are forgotten and reputations healed.
In nearly every case I can recall, losing my temper outwardly has set me back ten times further than just letting the steam quietly roll into the sky to cool me off.
At the end of the meeting, I did ask for clarity around the next steps so that progress was assured.
Then I said thank you... two of the best words in the world.
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