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Book Carole "Carole was inspirational - the energy & enthusiasm was quite unique."
Mike Derrick, Chair East Sussex, Brighton & Hove Registered Care Homes Association
Motivational Speaker Carole Spiers distinguishes
suppressed anger from passive-aggressive anger
Not all workplace anger finds its expression in the kind of shouting and threatening that we have all experienced, on occasion.
We know that anger can be turned inward, often making it harder to admit, harder to deal with, and more dangerous to mental and physical health. But hidden anger can take two quite different forms.
The better-known form of hidden anger is suppressed (or repressed) anger, which is often rooted in decency, good manners and a desire to perform well, but does not resolve the emotional issues. It tends to build-up resentment and is well-known by doctors as a factor in, high-blood pressure and depression.
The other form is passive-aggressive anger, which is an indirect form of open anger.
All the control, none of the accountability
In common with open aggression, passive-aggressive anger involves boosting self-esteem and gaining control of situations at someone else’s expense. But it can be conducted in an underhand, devious manner that speaks poorly of the individual, who is clearly trying to evade confrontation and afraid to make open, constructive criticism.
Many of the familiar negative types around the workplace can be classified as passive-aggressive. The control freak, the credit-snatcher, the blame-shifter ... these and others can set-up a constant bad atmosphere through a basically inadequate character.
If you’re able to distinguish between these two conditions (which outwardly may not look very different), then your approach to the second group should properly be more corrective than therapeutic. It is the suppressed-anger cases that merit the more sympathetic analysis and treatment.
Hidden Anger - Summary
- Workplace anger emerges in both inward and outward manifestations
- Inward anger may be suppressed aggression - a treatable symptom
- The other form is passive-aggressive - basically a character defect
Another key insight from Carole Spiers, International Leading Authority on Corporate Stress,
Motivational Speaker and BBC Broadcaster.
