Page 100 - my SUCCESS! my CHOICE

Deepak Gupta my SUCCESS! my CHOICE
- 99 -

“If you and Tom are game, we can do an assessment of how your earlier conflict could

have been avoided.”

“What do you guys say? Will it be a valuable learning opportunity?” He asked the team.

They all said yes in unison, except Tom and Rob who were hesitant initially but nodded

looking at the response of others.

Tom took the first shot rather emotionally, “I realize that I took Rob’s challenge to my

proposal personally and reacted to it somewhat insensitively.” He stopped briefly and

continued after he was able to control his emotions, “Being transparent, what threw me off

was the feeling that Rob asked the question not to seek information but to pull me and my

proposal down. I somehow lost my objectivity, and after that it was all about defending

myself.” It was Tom’s attempt at engaging Rob.

Rob, who was listening to Tom intently, immediately responded, “Thanks for your

transparency Tom. I really appreciate it. I too must admit that my reactions were also uncalled

for. Although I had no intent to pull you down, I probably framed my question negatively. In

fact, I like your proposal; it will improve productivity on many of my production lines. I plan

to invite you so that we can review and discuss the detail in my Leadership Team meeting.”

Tom’s face lit up. He instantly got up, shook Rob’s hands and said with a huge smile, “Any

time Rob. It will be my pleasure.”

Everyone was watching this fascinating transformation and live demonstration of what Dan

just taught them. Dan could not have asked for anything better.