Recently, a friend of mine was helping with the program, which was not unusual. However, towards the end of the program, I noticed that she was incorporating her own materials without consulting me. I was taken aback. While I didn’t confront her at the time because we were almost done, I was genuinely upset. In fact, I’m still upset about it.
In my view of the learning environment, there is a hierarchy. I am the leader in my management programs, and there are one or two individuals who provide support while I am teaching. This setup prevents boredom and allows participants to interact with each other. While some people may be initially hesitant to engage, they usually end up making connections because of this setup.
As a result of this friend sharing her own materials, I distanced myself from this person and have not worked with her again. It’s easier for me to pretend that it never happened. A good person would have addressed the issue, but I didn’t do that in this situation. I’m not sure if I will ever be close friends with her again. I can come up with many reasons in my head for why she combined her materials with mine, and it’s possible that she thought it would be helpful. However, I know that our relationship will never be the same.
Looking at the bigger picture, my immediate anger and subsequent behavior could have been resolved at the beginning. Both of us lost in this situation, but I was the only one who could have prevented it. I’m still upset about it and holding onto it, which is childish. We all have our own perspectives, and the way we perceive the world can be very different from how others do. Most likely, our conversations got misunderstood.
We have the ability to navigate through uncomfortable situations. We always have the choice to respond with anger or with understanding. I’m still working on this, but it’s important that I do. Watch my webinar, Stop Trying To Be Me: Live YOUR Own Life, as I talk about how we can become more self-aware and understanding of your strengths and weaknesses so you can alk away with a clear roadmap for living YOUR own life on YOUR own terms.
