The Art of Tact – Killing them with Kindness
Its February and a long weekend. Which means Valentines Day and Family Day. All packaged up pretty with a nice bow this weekend.
Hearts, Love, Feelings, all that mushy stuff is jammed to the forefront of our thoughts – whether we like it or not.
While we may or may not be the types to put on a full public display of affection – which I’m not sure is quite a thing given this pandemic. There are still ways to go about not just our feelings for those that are close to us, but also those that we encounter through out our day to day lives.
With our emotions and awareness already soaring at all time highs with covid, we may find ourselves responding quicker to actions and reactions than we may otherwise react with.
Our personal thoughts and opinions are becoming more super charged because in a lot of cases, we’re finding more time alone with them than ever before.
The lack of social circles and social gatherings can cause us react based on these supercharged feelings.
And while thats not always a bad thing – what tends to be missed is the lesson on time and space.
We are not wrong to have our own separate feelings, opinions, thoughts, hopes, and dreams – but it is how we acknowledge and voice them that we sometimes need to be more mindful of.
Having tact and being mindful of place and time are integral to maintaining positive and civilazed relationships.
While we may not always agree with the thoughts and actions of others, choosing a space to voice our concerns or opinions is important.
When it comes to working relationships, coworkers, partnerships – the way we approach these situations matters.
If we disagree with an action or opinion of another, taking your coworker, or whoever it may be, aside – will always be your best course of action.
If it comes down to a matter of something you feel needs to be addressed, then by all means do so, but use tact and be courteous when exploring this option.
Be mindful that your thoughts and opinions are just that – your own.
In a world as big as the one we live in, it is quite possible you’re going to (often) run into those who may have the same problems or same issues as you, but use different ways to arrive at an answer.
2 + 2 will always equal 4. But you can also use different ways to arrive at 4 for an answer. And just because you choose a different way, doesn’t mean you are wrong.
We also need to be mindful that if we’re walking into a situation half way through, we may not have the big picture. Or perhaps we don’t have the same training or skill set to know why reasons are made the way they are.
With that said, we need to use tact when approaching ‘why’ the solution was as such, and keep our mind open to the possibility of learning new ways, and new options to solve issues.
Sometimes the reasons may be harder to follow, and sometimes, our opinions may be better than that of our coworkers. But by using tact, observing time and space, approaching these challenges mindfully, we’ll save not only the face – thoughts and opinions and work of our coworkers and associates, but also quite possibly our own.
Everyone is struggling through these ‘unprecedented times’. We also never know what challenges others are facing through closed doors.
We can all do our best to help support one another through this.
Guest Blogger Rayna Davies
Rayna Davies is a graduate and practitioner of Business Management. She has developed an expertise in blogging, covering subjects like travel, world events and security. Having grown up with a father who has developed an expertise in Physical Security and Executive Protection in the RCMP and two major corporations, she has personally observed and experienced many security details. These experiences have included personally meeting HM Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Jean Chretien and many celebrities. She presently assists Sentinel Security in Executive Protection workshops and guest blogging and also assists Gloprosec Preventative Services in Intelligence gathering and Business Administration. Her passions include World travel, having visited every continent.
