CHAPTER 6
Assertiveness
“Deliberate with caution, but act with decision; and yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.”
—CHARLES COLTON, ENGLISH CLERGYMAN AND AUTHOR
Assertiveness is the ability to maintain our boundaries and express our needs clearly and directly. It includes being able to express emotions that we are feeling and offer opinions that may be unpopular or run counter to the “group think.” Although being assertive means asking for what we want, it does not mean we always get what we ask for. Assertiveness has gotten a bad rap in some areas of society because it is often confused with aggression.
Healthy assertive people, ...
Get The Other Kind of Smart now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
