It is inevitable that someone in your workplace or network will share a difficult event they go through. Lara Hogan shares the importance of being prepared and setting boundaries to avoid:
- jumping into problem solving mode
- turning our response toward ourselves and our similar experiences
- responding to avoid hurting this person
Hogan suggests asking open questions to understand what would be most helpful for your conversation to focus on, or what your cowoker may need right now.
Sometimes all that is needed is for someone to just listen from an engaged yet neutral and empathetic position. . . two ears and one small mouth.” – Anonymous
Source: Lara Hogan, October 29, 2020. Link. Keep your tone and body language open and welcoming so that it’s clear that you’re not shutting down the conversation, but rather lending support to them in the form of extra time and space, so you can both figure out the right next steps.
INSIGHTS: Hogan is the author of the book, Resilient Management, which walks through how to create stability, clarity and trust as you navigate the stages of group development with and within your team.