So occasionally, I find myself embroiled in some whacked out, attitude driven political discussion at work. This is usually the result of an email thread someone, somewhere sends that ignotes the fires underneath me, forcing me to respond.

If you know me at all, you’ll understand that confrontation, in the general sense, is not something I will seek out. I don’t pick fights, I don’t poke at people’s buttons and generally don’t even get up enough ire under most criticism to even defend myself.

My general policy with such things is that many people in corporate environments that blow steam around and get up enough momentum to publicly ridicule or criticize only end up looking foolish to their peers, and not responding is often more effective than any possible retaliation.

However, in the cases where it is necessary to reply, I generally spend a significant amount of time in word-crafting, phrasing and being as objective as possible. I need to support my team, their efforts, and shield them from the silly kinds of critique this person is pushing down at us. So two hours later, I’m clicking send, and once again, I get the sinking feeling in my gut “This is the last email you will send as an employee of this company… make it a good one”. It isn’t a rational fear. It most likely isn’t even realistic in any way. Every time I get worried about such things, *my* manager comes back supporting me and letting me know I’m doing the right thing. But you never know. One of these times, it’ll be the daughter of the cousin of the president of the dumpster out back, and you’ll suddenly find yourself with a non-working security badge and your last paycheck mailed to you.

So be it. You have to stand up for your principles and your team. You know you’re in manangement when …

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