In any communication situation, you are both the sender and the receiver, and when you’re communicating fairly, you expect certain things to happen as you play both roles. To help you communicate fairly, I’ve put together a list of my favorite communication rules to help you play—or communicate—fairly. Here they are:
6) Sometimes you have to let others win. We human beings are funny creatures. We like to be right, so much so that we’ll sometimes go to great lengths to be right about things. However, being right to the point of making someone else wrong doesn’t foster good communication. Sometimes the power you relinquish by letting someone else be right can open up the conversation so that you can learn more about what others think and feel. Try to set the tone by being blatantly honest and letting down your guard. This is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of trust and openness.
a. Think about what changes you can make in your approach to take pressure off a topic of contention. Try looking at the issues that cause aggravation for those people with whom you have to work. Sometimes a simple change in time schedules that reduces the urgency to get things done can reduce pressure in such a way as to reduce the stress in the relationship. Whenever you take the initiative to calm things down, you let others chill out and regroup. You can endeavor to let them have the upper hand and regain perspective.
b. Keep in mind also that no one is perfect. Sometimes willingness to accept another person’s shortcomings is a more powerful move toward resolution than talking about those shortcomings will ever be. Actions speak louder than words.
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