I decided to take a photo of this post-it from a workshop before I threw it away; since it put me in a reflective mood.

How often do we present a calm and collected demeanour despite feeling overwhelmed?

Like a duck above the surface, looking calm and unruffled. But, is actually paddling like hell below the surface.

I have been guilty of this and what ends up happening is I start blaming, moaning, and whining. When I’m at my worst, it escalates to anger.

Unfortunately, my loved ones bear the brunt of it, most of the time.

When I’m at my best, I notice my feeling of “overwhelmedness” before I lash out. And I learned that all I needed to do was – 𝗔𝘀𝗸!

Someone always steps up to help me get out of the rut.

It’s the same at work.

We sometimes blame, moan, or whine about a difficult stakeholder… a cranky boss… or an insensitive teammate.

Next time you notice yourself or your team going into these patterns, consider reflecting…

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚?

Then ⮕ 𝗔𝘀𝗸! After all, isn’t that how collaboration starts?