Dear Customers and Friends:
A preacher once delivered a Sunday sermon about peacemakers. A few days later, he received a note from a young boy in his congregation who obviously had listened and reflected deeply.
“Dear preacher,” the simple note began. “I know God wants us to make peace with everyone, but He never met my sister.”
Don’t we all have people in our lives who can be difficult? Nevertheless, it’s still important to try and get along – if not for yourself, then at least for others around you.
This past summer, our company conducted a seminar on Peer Peace Building as part of our Syfan University program for college interns. Keeping peace in the workplace is such an important soft skill that we felt it was important to directly address it at our company.
Basically, the course teaches positive conflict resolution. A lot of the principles may seem to be common sense, but they are so seldom followed:
• Listen.
• Have empathy.
• Show respect.
• Be transparent.
• Communicate openly.
• Search for common ground.
Here are some practical applications of these principles:
• Be the first to say, “I’m sorry.”
• Don’t raise your voice in an argument. Stay calm.
• Use “I” statements to avoid pointing the finger at someone. Rather than say, “You are accusing me,” say it this way: “I feel like you’re accusing me. Can we talk about it?”
As someone with a Type A personality, I am talking to myself as much as anyone with these words of advice. After all, I am my dad’s oldest son!
Blessed to be a Blessing,
Greg Syfan
President, Syfan Logistics