All of us have people in our lives who drive us crazy. We've spent hours reliving the unfair, unappreciative, inconsiderate treatment they have inflicted on us. But getting mad at this person makes just about as much sense as getting mad at a chair for being a chair.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the futility of getting angry at others for their inherent nature or actions.
Marshall Goldsmith's quote reflects on how we often allow ourselves to get frustrated and upset by the behavior of others, particularly those who may not treat us well. He compares this reaction to getting angry at an inanimate object, suggesting that some people's nature is simply beyond our control and that we should learn to manage our reactions rather than direct our frustration at them.
In practice
In discussions about dealing with difficult coworkers, this quote serves as a reminder to manage our reactions.
Active questions are the alternative to passive questions. There is a huge difference between, 'Do you have clear goals?' and 'Did you do your best to set clear goals for yourself?' The former is trying to determine the employee's state of mind; the latter challenges the employee to describe or defend a course of action.
Treat every piece of advice as a gift or a compliment and simply say, βThank you.
The only thing I don't think people don't understand about good leaders is that they're both good and lucky. A lot of it is timing.
Life is short. Do whatever you can to help people - not for status, but because the 95-year-old you will be proud if you did help people and disappointed if you didn't.
If we become aware of what's happening before we act, behaviour becomes a function of choice rather than a result of an impulse or trigger. You begin to control your world more as opposed to the outside world controlling you.
A leader who is self-aware enough to know that he or she is not adept at everything is one who has taken the first step toward being a great leader.
God will always bring the right people into your life, but you have to let the wrong people walk away.
After all these years, I could say thank you to a woman who had a powerful impact on my early life.
Stories are the currency of human relationships.
Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts ... good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don't hurt. They're not painful. That's not just with somebody you want to marry, but it's with the friends that you choose. It's with the people you surround yourselves with.
Was it all put into words, or did both understand that they had the same thing at heart and in their minds, so that there was no need to speak of it aloud, and better not to speak of it?
I have known more men destroyed by the desire to have wife and child and to keep them in comfort than I have seen destroyed by drink and harlots.
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