My Crazy Office | K Squared Enterprises

My Crazy Office is a weekly workplace podcast dedicated to helping listeners navigate their careers. Executive coach Kathi Elster and career therapist Katherine Crowley combine their expertise to solve both serious and silly situations at work. Join Kathi and Katherine as they answer real workplace questions with solid advice and a side of humor. Do you have someone or something at work that’s driving your crazy? Send your questions to info@mycrazyoffice.co. (All submissions kept confidential.)

You’re probably right

January 18, 2012

You’re probably right: That coworker you work with is incompetent. The employee you manage does have a bad attitude. Your boss should appreciate how hard you work. And your company isn’t paying you enough.

Now that we’ve established how right you are, what’s next? You can congratulate yourself for being right. But that affords limited satisfaction. Your situation won’t improve until you do something different. Sorry. It’s not fair. But your attitude is what will change your reality.

So accept that you are right, and get ready to respond to the difficult people at work differently.

Good days, Bad days

January 17, 2012

Some days start off well and glide by seamlessly. Other days are stressful from the start. If your workday looks like the former, take a moment to really enjoy the ease of it all. Appreciate your work environment and savor your interactions. If your workday is the latter (highly stressful), take many moments throughout the day to B-R-E-A-T-H-E. Breathing is the easiest way to calm your mind and soothe your nervous system. Breathe in deeply (counting to three), hold the breath briefly (counting to three), and breathe out slowly (counting to six). Do this until you feel your body calm down. Breathing won’t solve everything, but it will help. Try it and see.

Are you hooked?

January 13, 2012

We say that if you’re having a consistently strong negative internal reaction to someone or something at work, then you’re “hooked.” It could be as trivial as a coworker constantly clearing his throat or as weighty as a manger’s verbal attacks. Once you’re hooked, that person’s behavior becomes a constant source of distraction and distress.

Today, consider whether you’re hooked by someone at work. Is there someone who the mere sight of gives you agita? Does the sound of his or her voice jangle your nerves? Do emails from this person sour your day? If so, take a deep breath and know that you can improve the situation.

Start by admitting you’re hooked, then stop waiting for the other person to change. Know that as you change your reaction to this person, you’ll change the relationship.

Low on HoHoHo

December 13, 2011

It’s that time of year again, and I’m in a frenzied, anxious state of mind. How are you? If you are able to weather this holiday season calmly, please tell me your secret. Tell me because, despite my best efforts, I find this time of year deplorable.

Don’t get me wrong — I love the lights, I like the fellowship, I like the idea of reconnecting with family and friends. But I hate the pressure and the barrage of advertisers insisting that I buy, buy, buy.

My hohoho usually comes from enjoying people, not things. At work, I am grateful for my clients, my business partner, our agent, our vendors, our service providers and everyone else who makes daily interactions and business exchanges pleasurable.

At home, I’m grateful for my loving husband, my stepchildren, my extended family and our overall health.

Okay, now I’m feeling a little bit better. But there’s still so much to do, right? I welcome your ideas on experiencing joy or peace or laughter or light during this time of year.

Don’t avoid conflict

October 5, 2011

I have been told by close friends that I walk towards conflict. I don’t think that is accurate. What is accurate is that I have learned not to avoid conflict. In my experience every time I avoid conflict it seems to comes back and because I avoided it the first time, when it comes back it’s ugly.

So I like to say that I am willing to have conflict with another person. There are tricks to having a successful conflict, here are my rules.

– Listen to the other persons side, even question them to fully understand what they are thinking.
– Always thank them for explaining their point of view.
– Truly try to see where this person is coming from.
– When you finally get to say what you are thinking, make it about yourself, say things like.

“It might just be me” “I see what you are saying, but try to see what I see”

Then when the conflict is over, take a long hot shower it will wash away the stress.