Friday, January 13, 2012

Sometimes Yelling Works

My method of confrontation is usually a calm conversation in which both parties state their concerns and mutually come up with a solution.

Except for the last confrontation I had.
Have you ever tried to reason with someone who takes control of the conversation and has a "my way or the highway" kind of mindset? Someone who talks like they are a great tower, and you are a small fly?

I had one such discussion recently. I kept getting interrupted, he trampled on my words like they were spiders.
Finally, I stepped out of character. I yelled at him, told him he needed to listen to what I was saying instead of dominating the conversation.

He blinked, then apologized. Our conversation became mutual instead of one-sided. We both relaxed, and suddenly, we were listening, and we both walked away feeling good.

I just bring this incident up because it was a surprise to me. I felt completely crazy yelling at him. Veins sticking out on either side of my neck, I probably looked pretty scary. My moral: never rule out the things that have never worked before. Because sometimes, surprises happen.