The Truth about Jerks
We’ve all
either been a jerk to someone or
we’ve been on the receiving end of
someone else’s jerk-like tendencies.
We’re all human. It
happens.
People are
jerks sometimes; no question…it’s an unfortunate reality. The fortunate reality, however, is (or can be) how we choose to react when
people around us are…in a word - a jerk.
Some OneMoreStep thoughts on Jerks:
They may NOT know better
Though it may be hard to believe,
that person on the other end of the phone, across the aisle, across the
conference room table, or in the next room, may not know how to act or react in
certain situations. In some cases,
even if they know what’s right, they may not know how to show it, say it, or do
it.
Something else may be going on in their life
Jerks are not indigenous to our
current location, current place of employment, or current city
Despite our natural tendency to
romanticize ‘the next season’ or ‘our next place of employment’ (you
know…’that’ place or ‘that’ company where it ‘would’ be so much better), the
grass isn't greener (with fewer 'jerks') someplace else. Jerks have a funny way of surfacing, no
matter where we find ourselves.
They're probably scared of something
One of my favorite authors and guru
on Leadership and Marketing, Seth Godin, published a blog post several months
ago entitled, “Snark and Fear”.
The main idea of the post was that if/when people get snarky with us; we
should ask them what they’re afraid of.
Jerks may have needs
They may very well need help. Whether it is financial assistance, someone
they can call a friend, someone to make them laugh, or perhaps just something
or someone to put their mind at ease…they may have a huge hole the size of
Texas in their life, and they may need something or someone.
Wait…maybe…in reality they're not a
jerk after all
It could be that they may not be as
bad as we think.
Not
sold? Still not buying it?
I wasn’t
either…until I remembered that I, too, have been a real jerk to people at one
time or another. Then I thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if people gave me the
benefit of the doubt when I was a total jerk…”
That's reason enough to be that person to the "jerks" in our lives, because they're no different than us. I bet deep down, they're not really jerks.
So when
people are total jerks to us, going
OneMoreStep, smiling right back at them, meeting them where they are, and
perhaps even figuring out a way to help them could be way more fun and
productive.
Too often we
try to get back at them or win the argument or prove our point.
Every time I do that I get myself in trouble or make matters much worse. Then…who’s the jerk?
That’s the
truth about jerks.
Have a great
day.
Taylor
