Assertiveness Unleashed: Brewing Confidence in life and Navigating Workplace Dynamics

Assertiveness in life is like good coffee on a Monday morning. It wakes you up, keeps you alert, but too much can be detrimental. Being assertive is about expressing your opinions, needs, and boundaries with respect. It's about stopping yourself from "swallowing" your discomforts and being able to externalize them without attacking others.

It sounds easy, but it's an extreme challenge. Being assertive is an art. If you don't gauge the intensity of the complaints you express, you can hurt others' feelings; but if you don't express them all and hold something back, you might end up hurting yourself. Or developing a fatal ulcer.

Assertiveness in the workplace is like a highly loaded cocktail. Let's say the day has come for the office boss to make fundamental decisions and chart the course for the team at a crucial moment. Let's also assume that the entire team has made previous mistakes, and the boss never addressed them at the time. Imagine that, as usual, he continues to avoid friction, speaks half-truths to avoid hurting feelings, avoiding conflicts, and staying popular.

With incomplete instructions, the boss ceases to be clear and fails to communicate what he truly wants. The consequence? The team carries out actions that end up ruining everything, while the leader is left with the regret of not having said what needed to be said. Additionally, he is frustrated to see that the team could have done better if he had been assertive.

Keeping silent or speaking half-truths in a decisive situation could generate a work chaos more disastrous than an atomic bomb. Learning to be assertive can provide the confidence to take the right path, even if it's unpopular. Those conflicts in the team, those pesky little monsters, with assertiveness can be recycled, transformed, and directed towards brighter paths.

Notable Benefits of Assertiveness in the Business

We can't deny it. Office gossip and secret whispers at the coffee machine are amusing, but they aren't the way to solid communication. Assertiveness also helps to put those points on the table and transform those whispers into open conversations. It clearly seems like a utopia, right? Well, with assertiveness, this blurry picture can become a vivid 4K painting.

Okay, but how can you TRULY be assertive?

The key word for the first steps of assertiveness to be successful is RESPECT! That's the magic secret; the olive oil of the delicious salad. When something bothers you and fills you with anger, breathe before speaking and invoke the spirit of respect. Then, speak with respect guiding your words. Everything will be said as you need it, and the other person will never be hurt.

If it doesn't work, keep trying.

Assertiveness will skyrocket your personal and professional growth. It will allow you to harbor clarity and the ability to direct your actions. Similarly, it will prevent the uncomfortable feeling of repression (remember the ulcer that wakes you up at night) and will take you to levels so effective that it will propose changes not only in the company but in your life.

Did I tell you to keep trying?

Assertiveness is equivalent to those superpowers you always wished for. But remember: everything has its process.

Spiderman didn't become a great superhero in a second and you know that, my friends.