At a recent training covering certain people skills, one participant kept asking why we’re talking about various stuff, because he’s an experienced manager who knows all this stuff and has good people skills.
Later in the training, this participant was involved in a role-play where we observed his people skills, especially those related to conflict management. The manager not only broke almost every rule for effective conflict management in the book, but even some which aren’t even in the book and now should be taken into account.
It didn’t surprise me, considering that in my work as a communication coach, I find it common for people with bad people skills to believe they have good people skills. When it comes to this area, it’s easy is to have huge blind spots, the size of the dark spots on the moon.
This particular experience though, reminded me of a scene in Office Space, a dead-on satire on the corporate life and one of my favorite movies. Here it is:
I constantly encourage people to put aside their presumptions about their skills and look at the facts as objectively as they can. Since our mind can fabricate our self-image to a great deal, by looking at the facts they will often discover unexpected things.
The line in the movie scene which names the title of this article gets me laughing every time: “I have people skills!“
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HI Eduard –
l love your rebrand and new name. Very apt. Strong way to kick off with some Office Space. One of my favorite movies and reminds me of my time in corporate america. Good luck with the new venture and post strong!
Phil
.-= Phil – Less Ordinary Living´s last blog ..Discover 5 ways to have an amazing day =-.
Thanks Phil! I’m very excited about the new blog brand. I have some memories which are brought back by Office Space as well. And a lot of my clients have even more.