My occasional feeling of nameless dread goes something like this: I’ve forgotten to do something something; I’ve let someone down; I’ve neglected something important; There isn’t enough time; I’ve been wronged; I’m a terrible person; I’m going to be found out; I’ve squandered something good; Everything’s going to go wrong; Everyone’s going to die (eventually); It’s possible, eventually, that I…
Tag: emotional labour
It’s easy to get totally absorbed in a meeting,* but it really helps if you can reserve a piece of your attention for watching what’s going on as well as participating: What’s the temperature of the team as a whole? Who’s engaged? Who isn’t? Why? Who might have something to say that they’re holding back? How does each person feel?…
The way [of handling fear] that doesn’t work is reassurance. Reassurance doesn’t work because you need an infinite amount of it. Someone can give you reassurance for five minutes and then ten minutes later you go “Ooohh no no no.” So the number of times that you need to be told by someone you trust and respect that you’re going…
One yardstick of wealth is how much you give away. It’s easy to run out of time and money, but there are no hard limits to your supply of courtesy and consideration. I’ve had several interactions with courteous, engaged service people this week, and they made a huge difference to a difficult week – I still feel glad about them.…