Recently, Lorna was sharing her frustrations at the office. In particular, she has a tense relationship with one of her colleagues – Marianna. Marianna has a very different working style from Lorna and this difference causes conflicts between them. Lorna is the office manager and executive assistant to the owner. Marianna is one of the sales people and is relatively new to the organization. Marianna comes to Lorna for assistance and when Lorna offers suggestions that are based on healthy business practices, Marianna ignores them, and then wants things done in a way that only suits her.
In working with Lorna, we’ve looked at many things including their differences and accepting the diversity of their talents in the organization. The biggest hurdle that Lorna faces is the ability to disconnect from the “emotional buttons” Marianna seems to push for her. At the same time, Lorna has an obligation to assist Marianna to some extent, in her role as office manager. Sometimes, getting an objective person to share what they see can help you move forward when you are feeling stuck.
Believe and Succeed
"Getting results through people is a skill that cannot be learned in the classroom."
– J. Paul Getty