The Impact of De-escalating Drama

My takeaways from A Business Made Simple by Donald Miller

I had the privilege of watching my mentor de-escalate a situation that was being blown up and had the ability to really tear relationships apart. I knew she was upset about the situation, but she didn't let that show when she addressed the group.

She showed the ability to not only keep her cool but, she helped the whole team de-escalate and not blow up at each other. She not only helped save relationships the respect that we had for her already multiplied 10x.

Drama and dramatic people suck the energy from the environment onto themselves. It's one thing for that to be on stage or television, but in business or in real life it will kill relationships.

How do you become somebody who de-escalates rather than creates drama?

The key is to close the drama gap.

If a situation happens where someone spills something on a keyboard and you respond by throwing the computer across the room, that may be considered throwing the drama gap wide open…. You've slightly overreacted.

Here's the synopsis:

We respect people who react a little under, not over the level of drama a situation deserves. We trust people who remain calm and de-escalate drama.

De-escalating a situation requires you to remove yourself emotionally from the situation and respond like you are writing a script rather than living the script.

I was talking with my mentor right before she met with the group and I knew she was upset about what was going on. She showed us how to handle an emotionally charged situation with calmness and rationale. She took control of her emotions and de-escalated everyone around her.

I cannot express how much respect she gained from the whole team that day. The truth is, none of us have to be slaves to our emotions. We do not have to act on our emotions.

If you have enjoyed and gotten value from this Blog Post you can continue to read about this in Business Made Simple by Donald Miller.

To your success,

Heidi