
Your Communication Style
81
When a worker’s performance disappoints, the manager
often takes it as a personal affront or a test of the relationship.
(He knows better than that! Why would he do something so
stupid?)
This is where the boundary between I/thou and me/you
needs to be scrupulously observed. Whatever the reason or
the circumstance, people choose. They choose to conform or
perform, or they choose to do something else. Unless you are
a Theory X “parent” down to your bones, you have to accept
that some choices made by adults have nothing to do with
you.
Adults have the freedom to choose, but they also
have a responsibility to ...