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S.T.O.P. DRAMA

David Russell

An employee does not meet your expectations.  You yell at them.

An employee does not complete their work as promised.  You are sarcastic with them due to your frustration.

An employee gossips about you...  so you gossip about them.

The list goes on...  Situations in life followed by responses with DRAMA .

STOP and think for a moment.  How much more effective would your leadership be without your drama?

One of the www.Dictionary.com definitions of drama is:  a situation or sequence of events that is highly emotional, tragic, or turbulent.

Drama begets drama.  In other words, your employees mirror your behavior.  If you act like a jerk, they will more likely do the same.  Unfortunately most of us have a "drama trigger" that others can pull that makes us speak more quickly than we should to say words that are less thoughtful, caring and productive than we would like.

How do you avoid drama?  Here is a four-step process to S.T.O.P. DRAMA.

1.  Silent.   When you are confronted with a situation that makes you want to dramatize your response, BE QUIET - pause to refresh the goodness in your soul.  As your natural self roars commands to attack, slow your emotions to discern the quiet voice of your soul which is providing a healthier response.

2.  Tragic.   Remind yourself why the other person is misbehaving, at least according to your standards.  They are probably doing the best they can.  Whether they have childhood wounds, "a problem" at home, or just a bad day...  Avoid the tragedy of drama and instead be empathetic to their issues and cut them some slack.

3.  Outcome.   Remind yourself how your intentional response controls the outcome of the conversation, not their initial mistake.

4. Present.   Explain and ask for confirmation of your understanding of the facts without emotion.  Do not lecture. Keep it brief.  Then at that time, or some time later, offer ideas for a solution.

Try it.  S.T.O.P. DRAMA helps personally and professionally.  Trust me, with four sibling foster children in our home ages eight and under...  I can tell you this works at home and in your adult daycare office environment.

Be an Intentional, Systematic, Servant Leader.


MEETING IDEAS

Have an open discussion with your team about unnecessary drama in your workplace during the past week or month.  Here is one approach:
   
1.  Explain the concept of drama.  Discuss how it hurts people personally and professionally.
   
2.  Have a contest for $20.  Who has the best example of unnecessary drama in our workplace during the past week (or month)?
   
3.  Now go back to each example and discuss different responses (more than one) to each situation that would have been better for the drama major, the recipient of the drama, any other actors, and your company.

4.  Ask whether anyone is willing to test the S.T.O.P. DRAMA method for a week and report back at your next meeting.  Ask them to record when they intentionally avoid drama, and when they make the mistake of being dramatic.

NOTE:  Ask others to write down when they see this person or these people avoiding drama, initiating drama, or responding with drama.  The others can report AFTER the participant in the meeting next week.

5.  Have a prize for participants who really try to do their best.  There can be more than one winner.  Get ideas from their Wish List or maybe purchase or create a certificate with these theater masks: