It happened in an instant, Reader.

The email arrived. Reading it, Alan's blood pressure spiked. 🔥

He started to pound out a flamethrower response . . .but did something else instead (more on that in a minute . ..)

I'm betting big money that this has happened to you.

Little things like emails, texts, social media posts, and even loosely tossed words—can create big conflicts.

We interpret them through our personal lens, with a healthy dose of our own insecurities and worries thrown in.

Our big beautiful brains 🧠 are always scouring the landscape looking for what's wrong or offensive to us. It's easy for a word here or there to light our fire. 🔥

Yuup, in a time when we're all working doggedly to understand each other better, it sometimes seems like it's harder than ever to do. But as always, you only control three things: what you think, say, and do. ​

So before finishing his blazing email, Alan did something differently. He called me, and used the strategy I taught him that I call imagining positive intent (it's chapter 4 in my book, Red Cape Rescue.)

​Listen to his story on my blog here.​

So how about you, Reader? Ever used positive intent to deflate conflict at work—or wish you had? As always, I love to hear your stories, experiences and questions-—just hit REPLY and tell me more.

While we can't seem to diffuse the megaconflicts in our greater world 🇺🇸 , perhaps we can add a little more peace to our own workplaces by imagining positive intent before we react or respond to each other.

One person at a time, one moment at a time, we can change our lives at work without having to change everything in our lives. Thanks for being here, and keep soaring.

Always, Darcy

P.S. If you'd like to grow your own resilience to manage overwhelm and burnout, listen to my recent conversation on the Corporate Warrior podcast with Fela Rosa here. Thanks! --D

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