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Recovering From a Fall

Cindy, an administrative assistant, suffered constant stress because of a nagging coworker. The hypercritical colleague was a perfectionist who constantly complained about Cindy. The last straw broke when the woman complained about having to cover the phones after Cindy left for an afternoon doctor’s appointment.

When Cindy returned two hours later, the woman asked Cindy about what she considered a long absence. Feeling overwhelmed. Cindy burst and spewed obscenities at the woman. Other coworkers looked on in disbelief. Her foe remained calm. Cindy was the one the boss reprimanded. Not her foe.

Rightly or wrongly, you have to do damage control after a foe causes you to lose it. Don’t justify the meltdown. Instead, apologize to the boss for the disruption. Voice your regrets to colleagues over lunch. Keep the remarks short. Just admit that the display of anger was inappropriate and you’re sorry for the disruption. When you are sincere, people will forgive and forget. After all, they’re probably familiar with your foe’s antics. They know they might have reacted the same way