How to Handle Anger at Work

By Vicki Hess

​Have you ever noticed how feelings of joy might be fleeting, but anger seems to stick around? I’m working on a new keynote about resilience called Journey to Joy™ and this process has me thinking a lot about joy and anger.

We have all experienced anger at work. According to Science of People, “psychologists have discovered that there are three causes of anger:

1. Our desires, goals or expectations are not met.
2. We feel threatened.
3. We’re trying to hide other emotions.”

It’s easy to see how healthcare professionals in all roles can experience these causes at work…especially #1.

​When you’re angry your body releases stress hormones that lead to a fight or flight response. Over time, if anger persists, these hormones can lead to headaches, increased blood pressure and more. The external ramifications of anger may also include damaged relationships and work-related performance issues.

When you’re cool, calm and collected, this all makes sense but in the heat of the moment, when your hot buttons are being pushed, it can be difficult.

What most folks want to know is what to do with the anger. It’s not good to ignore those feelings. Repressing the anger can lead to a bigger burst down the road and that’s not healthy either.

My suggestion is to SHIFT from anger to joy. Some of you have heard me speak or read my work about SHIFTing your POWs to WOWs and these steps may look familiar.

Here are 5 steps to shrink the anger and choose joy:

• Stop and breath.
• Harness your harmful knee-jerk reactions.
• Identify and manage your negative emotions.
• Find new options.
• Take one positive action.

Now it’s your turn to choose Joy! See you in Professional Paradise.

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