Think about what employees or coworkers are signaling by their anger. Might it indicate
that they’re under stress? Is their anger being used as a tool to avoid further work or inhibit
further discussion of other points of view? For instance, an employee who gets angry
during a performance review may be using the emotion to avoid hearing about continuous
improvement ideas because of the uncertainty of trying new things.
So what?
People, consciously or unconsciously, use anger or other displays of emotion to
achieve a variety of personal objectives. Determining the underlying source of emotion can
help you better manage and confront issues.