Lesson 6.1
Anger Is a Feeling. Your Response Is a Behavior.
Estimated time: 6 minutes
Anger is normal.
People become angry when they feel:
- disrespected
- falsely accused
- ignored
- embarrassed
- overworked
- treated unfairly
- frustrated
- provoked
Feeling angry does not make someone unprofessional.
The question is:
What do you do with the anger?
Anger Does Not Automatically Require Action
There is a difference between:
“I am angry.”
and:
“Because I am angry, I am going to insult someone.”
You may not control the first feeling immediately.
You can often influence the second behavior.
Scenario
A coworker wrongly says you failed to complete a task.
You feel your body becoming tense.
You want to reply:
“You are a liar!”
A more controlled response might be:
“I disagree with that. Let’s check the handover record before we decide what happened.”
You have not surrendered your position.
You have changed the way you express it.
Useful Pause Questions
Before reacting, ask:
- What actually happened?
- What outcome do I need?
- Will shouting help me achieve it?
- Do I need a few minutes before responding?
- Should this conversation happen somewhere private?
- Does someone else need to be involved?
Remember
Emotional control is not pretending you are not angry. It is refusing to let anger make every decision for you.