Sympathize with Other People’s Anger

It’s no fun being angry, and it’s not something to subject anyone else to if you can help it. But sometimes people are justifiably angry, and sometimes you’re in the firing line. If you’re at fault, the only thing to do is fess up and apologize, and do what you can to put it right. But what if it isn’t your fault? Maybe a customer is angry with your organization, and you just happen to be the person on the end of the phone or across the counter. Or perhaps your neighbor is livid that your tree surgeon cut down the tree on their side of the fence, when actually you’d never asked them to do any such thing. How are you going to deal with that?

The first thing you’re going to do is stay calm. However bad the confrontation, ...

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