Be Solicitous Of The Feelings Of Others

This is the same as BeInterestedInOthers and TreatAllWithDignityAndRespect but it has the added distinction of being especially sensitive of other's feelings. We are often victims of our feelings. I often find myself getting angry and raising my voice. Since I'm half deaf anyway, this can be quite an experience for both me and those around me. All of us have feelings which we only partially control. Our feelings spring upon us and we can control them if we attend to the problem.

If we don't control our feelings they can get out of hand. Anger can turn to rage. That's the bad side of the force so to speak. Another kind of experience is when people who you work with are having troubles in their lives. When I was young I felt people shouldn't bring their problems to work. I thought if they had a problem that they were "broken" and should "get fixed" before continuing to work. Well -- we are all naive and simple minded about some things especially when we are young. This was certainly one of mine.

People are people, and people have feelings and experience ups and downs, great successes and great pains -- we should listen and share these with them, rejoicing in what is joyful and sharing the pain and loss of those things that are painful thus giving testimony to our own humanity by being solicitous of the feelings of others. --RaySchneider

Most work environments have an unspoken rule that feelings and emotions have no place at the job. This is a stupid rule. Everyone has feelings, and pretending otherwise is just ignoring reality. Hurt feelings or other negative emotions can really damage a team or organization. Everyone needs to find a way to address such issues openly.

However, it is also true that many people are not comfortable discussing their feelings, and some people want to share too much or are too needy of sympathy. Relationships with coworkers are not the same as relationships with your family or friends, even if you would like to think of them that way. You have to find the right balance for yourself and the people with whom you work.

-- KrisJohnson