Managing Sticky Situations at Work

Chapter 4Sticky Situations with Co-WorkersAs we look at sticky situations with co-workers, the Decision Pointstake on a very prominent role in the SIJR Model, particularly regardingthe power sources. The model stays intact, but the amount of leveragewe have in these situations changes. We actually have morepower with our bosses than we think. As the pool of qualified professionalsshrink, companies strive to retain their talent rather than loseit. During the era of the young Baby Boomer, that phenomenon didnot exist. Employers believed that if they lost one talented person,they could always find another.With co-workers, as we’ll see in this chapter, the amount of leveragewe have with another person diminishes—we can’t fire the person orthreaten to leave the job. We must, therefore, remember the first ofthe Three C’s, namely, we cannot change another person’s behavior,just our own. Sometimes having the courage to sayitjustrightandproving ourselves to be confident communicators shifts the dynamicof the relationship. We gain respect, and that respect discouragesothers from taking advantage of us.