The Power of Perseverance and Understanding in the Workplace
I remember the first day I started working at my place of employment. I walked into the office with nervous anticipation. I was hoping to make a good impression on everyone. But little did I know that there was this one person who didn’t seem to take a liking to me.
As I went about with my daily work, I noticed that this person would often give me cold stares and would avoid talking to me. If truth be told, it kind of made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I was unsure of what I had done wrong. Needless to say, I just carried on doing my job relentlessly.
However, as time passed and we had more interactions, I began to realise that this person was not mean at all. In fact, they were one of the most caring and supportive people I had ever met in my professional career.
I decided to confront my colleague one day and ask him why he had been so distant from me at the beginning. And that’s when my colleague confessed, “I’m not a mean person, but when you first started working here, I didn’t like you.”
At first, I was taken aback. But then my colleague went on to further explain that he was afraid that I was going to take his job or that I wouldn’t fit in with the team. And when he saw how hard I was working and how much I wanted to be a part of the team, that’s when he started to warm up to me.
I realised that sometimes people may not like you for no apparent reason, but that doesn’t mean you have to take it personally. Instead, try to understand where they’re coming from and show them who you truly are.
Today, that same colleague has become one of my closest friends in the office. And I’m grateful for the chance to have proven myself to all of them and to have formed such a strong bond with the team.