By Richard Gitonga
Posted Friday, June 25 2010 at 00:00
A seasoned entrepreneur once told a group he was mentoring that one of the key reasons for his success was his ability to control his anger.
He said there were many situations he had experienced as he was growing his business that would have provoked anger but he always managed to contain himself.
Time out
His remedy for controlling his anger is what he referred to as taking a “time-out” which entailed going to a quiet place and cooling off.
Daily pressures of meeting sales targets, dealing with difficult, unpredictable and duplicitous people, being obstructed by matatus on the way to work and getting sub-standard services priced at a premium are all reasons for people to get angry at some point in the day.
Despite the negative impact that anger has on the productivity of both employers and workers, most businesses do not have a programme or method of managing it.
An unknown author once said that anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than anything on which it is poured.
In context, it makes no sense to get angry at wayward matatu drivers and their crews as it only leaves your emotional state worse off than before the incident you may have encountered.
Getting angry at a fellow colleague for whatever reason leaves you worse off than if you adapted strategies to manage your negative feelings.
It is a known fact that anger increases your heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar. Bottom line is that anger is not good for your health.
The Roman philosopher Seneca once said that the greatest remedy for anger is delay.
The Chinese also have a proverb that says that if you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
At workplaces today, employees miss opportunities for upward mobility and promotion due to their inability to manage their anger, especially when under pressure.
Due to their inability to differentiate and draw a line between what is professional and what is personal, they are in a constant mode of emotional imbalance and tension.
Take the boss who tells the subordinate after a discussion that they need to increase their productivity by attending a course that will improve their listening skills.
Depending on the subordinate’s disposition, they may take this request personally or may consider it sound professional advice.
In the case of the former, the subordinate may feel offended if they do not have the right context to the request.
For instance, they may calm down later when they learn that everyone in the organisation has been requested to attend a course to improve their listening skills.
Essentially, many business owners and employees make assumptions about situations that eventually lead them down the wrong path.
This usually happens when individuals have a narrow perspective to circumstances.
At a scene of an accident, try arguing with a matatu tout whose main perspective is to make as many trips as possible to earn their daily cash.
This perspective differs significantly from an accident victim whose main concern is escalating insurance premiums and maintaining a sense of decency in a degenerating conflict situation.
In any situation, we need to know our anger threshold.
As Ralph Waldo Emersion said, we all boil at different degrees.
Psychologists say people who are experts at anger control tend to have a broader perspective to things.
They are not quick to anger but have a tendency to look at the situation in question from a broader context. They have learnt to depersonalise their anger .
The entrepreneur who mastered the art of anger management had a simply remedy.
He simply took a “time-out” from the situation and went to a quiet place to regain his self control.
His best quote is by Thomas Jefferson who said that when angry, count 10 before you speak; if very angry, 100.
This article can be blogged at www.elimishaonline.com
From Business Daily Published on June 25, 2010
