I work in an office and write planning reports for Council. I provide recommendations whether housing developments should be approved.
Recently, I have been helping a new graduate who has just finished university. He is 22 years old and has just started work at our company.
This week I reviewed his report we had been working on. My own review was then reviewed by our Team Leader. My Team Leader found mistakes in the report.
She explained to me why certain parts of my review were wrong.
When she corrected me, my first reaction was to get angry at her and I didn’t like the way she spoke.
I was a bit embarrassed I didn’t know. I also wanted to blame the new graduate for not knowing. However, I didn’t know myself.
As my team leader explained to me what I did wrong, I felt the anger come up inside me.
This time, I listened to what she had to say.
I replied, “okay, this is a learning experience for me”.
I could not bring myself to say “sorry”, but it was on the tip of my tongue.
She then said “that’s okay” “now we know for next time”, and smiled.
I felt closer to her. She then gave an explanation as to why I was being corrected.
She cannot justify my extra time spent on the job and therefore cannot ask her boss to extend the budget.
When she said this, I could see things from her perspective. The reason she is being firm with me is because I’m spending too much time on something that doesn’t need to be done. It doesn’t look good on her part, being the manager of the team, and it also doesn’t reflect well for our company. From her perspective, it would be annoying if her team member keeps going over budget and keeps making the same mistake.
I have been practicing a self-reflection meditation of looking at myself and throwing away negative thoughts. If I didn’t meditate, I would never be able see things from her perspective and the anger inside me would just keep piling up into I explode.
Meditation gave me the ability to accept other people.
I still have negative thoughts come up often about my team leader, however, meditation gives me the ability to see my own mind, and notice that it is ME that is reacting this way or that way.
The great thing about the self-reflection method, is that there is a way to see my negative mind and throw it away.
My team leader has double the experience as me. She is hard working and cares about the outcome. She is better at her job than me. She also is under more pressure. She manages a team of 4 guys, holds meetings, speaks to potential clients, does invoices, and completes her own work. She always does a good job and delivers.
That night, I reflected on my mind, and why I’m getting angry and then through meditation I can eliminate the mind of anger.
When I accept I am wrong and listen to her advice, I can learn from the situation and next time I will be in a better position to know what to do.
Please enjoy the video below 😊 Thank you for reading.
