Who hasn’t had one of those days? Maybe you’re feeling under-appreciated by your boss. Or you fought with your 13 year old about social media on your way to work. Perhaps you’re sensing that your biggest client is considering a change. Or you dripped salad dressing onto your tie at lunch.
Whatever the reason—a long-term frustration or a short-term annoyance—no one is immune. Sometimes we’re in a bad mood at work. After all, we are human.
All of us have moments when it feels impossible not to sigh, ignore, slam a door or even be short, sarcastic, annoyed or angry.
My advice: don’t!
You can’t be in a bad mood at work…unless you run your own business, interact with no one, rely upon no one and never need to provide anything for anyone. Bad moods are just not okay at work, because your mood impacts others and that impacts business.
That impact can be narrow or wide. You don’t feel like answering the phone, resulting in a missed sales opportunity. You are short with your colleague when she asks for help on a project and she avoids you for future opportunities. You frown or roll your eyes at staff meetings when direct reports ask questions, hindering their growth and development.
It doesn’t take long for your moodiness to negatively impact those around you and cause long-term damage to critical relationships. The times a colleague, boss, direct report or CEO loses it stick with us much longer than moments of respect and kindness.
Here are some tips to ensure that your bad moods don’t impinge upon your workplace success:
- Pay attention to your moods and know your triggers. Understand when and how stress, difficult people, lack of sleep, challenging situations and unexpected life events impact your day-to-day interactions. Use this awareness to try to stop a bad mood before it starts.
Learn to control your reaction to stress when you’re on the job. When you notice your mood plummeting:
Go somewhere else. This may mean taking a walk, going into a conference room, the bathroom or out the front door of the office. Removing yourself from the environment can create a shift of energy and mood, and give you a few minutes to regroup and change your mindset.
Move your body. Research shows that movement can impact your feelings and mood. Jump, stretch, dance, smile, do push-ups for a minute. To quote Taylor Swift, “shake it off!”
Choose a different mood. You can decide not to be frustrated, annoyed or angry, and respond accordingly. It may be hard and feel fake at first, but what you gain in not damaging relationships, trust or your brand will be invaluable.
Go home. If your mood feels like it’s not something that you can change, fix or ignore, use your leave time to get back to a place where you can really contribute, or request to work from home for a few hours, if that’s more feasible. No one wants to be around you if you can’t be polite, personable or at least professional.
If you’ve already stepped on the toes of others at work, clean up your mess.
Acknowledge your inappropriate behavior and apologize to whomever’s path you crossed.
Be clear about what you did and its negative impact.
Apologize genuinely and assure the person it won’t happen again.
Then make sure it doesn’t!
Most people will forgive you once, but if you’re seen as the volatile, moody time bomb who causes others to walk on eggshells, it will take a toll on your employability, credibility, impact and relationships at work. So, think about this, and have a good day!
Philadelphia-based leadership/executive coach Julie Cohen, PCC, is founder and CEO of Work. Life. Leader., a leadership and professional development program for emerging and developing leaders. She is the author of Your Work, Your Life…Your Way: 7 Keys to Work-Life Balance, a blogger for Working Mother and a columnist with The Philadelphia Business Journal. Follow Cohen at www.Facebook.com/WorkLifeLeader or @jccoach on Twitter.