What does it mean to be Assertive…?
Working from home you need to be heard and it is a fine balance between sounding too aggressive or simply just being Assertive.
What does is mean to be Assertive?
Behaviour based on a philosophy of personal responsibility and awareness of the right of others.
What does it look like?
Good eye contact and an open posture, matched with clear communication.
Why is it so hard?
UK culture loves to use sarcasm, which however you wrap it up, sadly stills falls into the aggressive category. We are emotional by nature and therefore we are reactive, and sadly with low emotional intelligence we can become aggressive. With our fight/flight instinct we either go into fight mode tending to be aggressive or we flee to avoid conflict and fall into passive behaviour. Listening is a key element of being Assertive, however it is a skill and therefore you need to concentrate and have enough energy to do it well.
What are the five key ingredients of being Assertive?
- Listening
- Showing you understand by reflecting & summarising
- Saying how you think and feel
- Saying what you would like
- Considering the consequences on yourself and others
What do we mean by responsible Assertion?
If you imagine a set of scales with your own personal rights one end and the other end respect for the rights of others you would be creating the right balance = responsible assertion.
What assertion is not?
About getting your own way and winning every time. Manipulating and managing others to get your own way.
For a practical workshop on how to be more Assertive please book yourself onto our next Developing YOU module – Thursday 13th May @ 10.00am – £40 per person
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArdOGtrDkvGtZs6HuwtKuyly-BcjWefzfD
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
