Choosing your battles

When you work for someone or some'body', be it a private owner or institutional shareholders i.e. when you work for a company, you are almost always dependent on others in some aspects of your job. Be it acceptance of your ideas, views, perspective or just simply, to get the other half of a job done and complete.

And there are days you will feel like:

a. pulling your hair

b. pulling the other person's hair

c. just leaving (and go shopping)

d. all of the above

Because, there are days when you feel people don't get you or what you're trying to make them see. When things just don't go your way.

And you feel like you want to charge head on and get your point across there and then. All fired up. Not just that, you want to insist on having things your way. 

But here is a thought. When I was young-er (ehem!), someone wise told me to learn to choose my battles. Over the years, I think the better term would be to learn to 'choose when to fight your battles'. As important as the when, is also the 'how'. 

Pause and think it over or perhaps bring it up at a different time. Sometimes, after giving it some thought, you will find other people's perspectives are not wrong too although it could have been opposite of yours..

Don't get me wrong, being open and transparent is good. Not accepting things as it is and pushing relentlessly for things to get through are admirable, sought after qualities in an employee *read extra points when you emphasize these qualities in an interview*. 

But there are many ways to resolve a conflict or to influence your views unto others. Best not 'charge ahead' all the time. Trust me, the reputation you gain will be the opposite of the 'sought after' attitude above.

On the other hand, as a boss I get impatient when there is too much 'redha-ness' i.e. acceptance for the way things are just because they are. Remember the familiar phrase of, "Ahhh…but it has always been that way". Don't go there (if you want to gain points in my interviews!)

Also, if you are part of a decision committee. State your views (all sides of it) and weigh the pros and cons during discussion but when a decision is made, honor the team spirit and support the decision. If you can't deal with this expectation, then you need to think about a career as your own boss. Then, it's different.

Confused yet? Perhaps you are..because it is situational. There is no template or framework of ways to react. It requires judgment of a situation and some understanding of the personality whom you are dealing with. I guess the trick is to balance and assess the best approach for handling every situation. There's also the saying, don't win battles but lose the war..

Feel like pulling your hair yet?

Picture courtesy of Google Images