How do you react when people around you are negative or angry?
The other day, during an event for The #LessEffortMoreImpact Movement for Women in Business, the fire alarm at our venue went off.
We immediately evacuated the building.
While waiting for the alarm to stop and for someone to say it was safe to return, we waited in the parking lot just across the road.
Suddenly, a lady came out of a nearby building and started shouting angrily at us.
She said that this was a paid parking lot and we couldn’t just stand there.
I explained that we’d just evacuated the building because of the fire alarm. But that didn’t appease her.
We moved out of the parking lot and stood closer to the building, but she continued to watch us and started taking photos!
Fortunately, there was no fire and we were told by the building owner that we could go back inside.
A few minutes later, the police arrived! Apparently, the angry lady had phoned to complain about us.
Fortunately again, the police listened to our explanation and left.
We carried on with our event.
It was interesting though to notice the different reactions to the angry woman.
Some participants were very upset. Some were defiant. Some were empathetic.
When other people are negative or angry, I keep in mind that it’s not about me.
That person is behaving that way due to their own reasons.
It’s normal for us as human beings to have an initial automatic reaction when we feel under attack,
From then though, we can choose our response.
3 quick tips for dealing with negative or angry people
- Recognize that any automatic reaction you have is because you’re human
- Remember their behavior has nothing to do with you
- Choose how you ultimately respond