Being able to de-escalate ones own and the anger of others is an important skill to have in business. Hopefully, this is not something the reader deals with on a regular basis but unfortunately most people in business encounter either their own anger or the anger of others more frequently than they would like.
In order to be successful at de-escalating anger, a person must understand and become skillful in the following areas.
Prevention Steps:
1. Recognize that anger is a choice of a wide range of behaviors that could be used to get what one needs in a situation. It is a behavior that has benefit for its user. Anger can get people the attention they need, help them escape things they dont want to do, help them gain control over another person or situation, or pump them up when they are feeling small and insignificant.
2. The person interacting with the angry person must identify his or her own emotion at any given point in time. If the helping person is also experiencing anger, then that person will not be very effective assisting others to manage theirs.
3. When potential interventionists are experiencing anger, they must be able to change...