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Stop Apologizing When Thank You is a Better Choice
2 February 2016
Allison read Cartoons Show How ‘Thank You’ Can Be an Empowering Substitute for ‘Sorry’ and appreciated how a small change in word choice can make both people feel better.
Tags: allison read, communication, gratitude
There’s a time and place for an apology and forgiveness in the workplace. We make mistakes. We say things we didn’t mean to. We drop balls and let each other down. Hopefully, we don’t make a habit of it, but when it happens, “I’m sorry,” can go a long way. Similar to how we don’t really know how to give specific, descriptive, behavior-oriented feedback, we also don’t always know how to say I’m sorry effectively. This post I wrote on 22 April 2014 will show you how to make your apology meaningful.
However, today’s post is not about saying, "I’m sorry." It’s about the number of times we say, “I’m sorry,” when a, “Thank you,” might be the better choice. As you’ll read here, “Illustrator Yao Xiao thinks people are overly apologetic when they should be thankful instead.” To understand what he means follow this link to see seven cartoons like this one by Xiao:
I think you and the people in your life (at work and outside of work) will enjoy how this slight shift in word choice changes your interactions and maybe even strengthens your relationships.
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