Quick Ideas 128 to 129 Don't Take Things Personal We know, we know--a lot easier Assignment said than done! But Think about a coworker who makes it's a good policy to everything personal. Does anyone take practice. There are that person seriously? two situations you need to consider when working to not take things personal. The first is your ego; the second is the other person's ego. Because you can only control you, let's start there. If you want to be taken seriously, then you have to have some tough skin, and be able to know the difference between someone criticizing your ideas and finding fault with you personally. Challenging your ideas and decisions is par for the working world, so you need to accept it. We are all challenged and ques- tioned from time to time, and some people are challenged daily. Even your CEO gets pushback regularly. The second situation you may have to deal with is that of the office bully. People who make an issue personal and try to drag you down usually don't have a good argument for their position to begin with. That's why they try to divert the issue and make it about you. But it isn't. So what do you do when someone takes the conversation to a personal level? There are two options, depending on the situation. First, calmly and politely tell the person the issue is not about you; it's about X project. A more firm approach may be necessary though, such as, "Joe, I'm happy to have a productive conversation 129 153