I am a coach for my son's hockey team and at practice this week he skated up to me and said a player from a different team which we share the ice with threw snow in his face. He wanted either advice on how to deal with it or he wanted me to deal with it. I really didn't do either. I just asked him how he dealt with it.
I am not sure if I did the right thing because a few thoughts went into my head. Like, is my son being a bit of a baby because of course someone throws snow into you face from time to time. Or, I thought, is this a moment where I tell my son to defend himself and pop the kid. Or, did he do exactly the right thing by just telling his coach because he didn't appreciate it and frankly as coaches we try not to tolerate any monkey business on the ice because the parents pay darn good money for practice, development, coaching and a discipline environment.
Putting aside this minor blip of an issue, because let’s face it this was a non-issue, I do love that it gets my mind racing and has helped provide an idea for this week’s blog. These boys will certainly be on the same ice more in the future and my son will always be in classes or on teams with kids where there will be conflicts. As he evolves he will have to learn to deal with these people while not interrupting his learning and training. Similarly, in the workplace we must deal with a wide variety of personalities whom we must attempt to work with to meet our business objectives.
We spend a good portion of our waking hours at work and therefore with coworkers. While some of our best friends and strongest relationships are formed at work, there are at times challenging personalities as well. This article from Forbes provides a somewhat humorous approach to the types of negative people you may have worked with in the past.
Perhaps the most problematic character trait to deal with at work is someone that is simply just a jerk. While my solution in this situation is to typically avoid such people, there are obvious times where you must work with this person. This article from Fast Company shares ideas if the jerk happens to be a client, boss or coworker.
What kind of person are you at work? This Ted Talk by Adam Grant breaks down people as Givers, Takers and Matchers. It’s a very interesting video that dives into just how troublesome a taker can be for your organization.
Back to my son’s practice…if I were him and I didn’t like that some kid I didn’t know threw snow in my face, I would have hit the kid back hard enough that he knew I wasn’t the type of kid that allows others to throw snow in my face. But that’s just terrible parenting advice.