She had been criticised and rather than accept the criticism went on the defensive. She’s working in a job well beneath her intellectual capability and it is a very detailed focused job while she is better at looking at the bigger picture.   She also is very passionate about her work, more so than the others she works with.

It’s always good to get feedback and she later emailed me to say “Thanks for your call; I really appreciated your input. I think I was probably being dramatic and you really helped me to focus.”

I’d helped her to plan what to say and do at a follow up meeting and I’d introduced her to Transactional Analysis – Parent, Adult, and Child.

Carla said that she had managed to keep her cool and respond from an adult rather than a ranting child’s perspective.

One of the reasons people look for another job is because it doesn’t match up with their personality and this is a good example of this. Trying hard to be the person you aren’t can be stressful and can result in us letting off steam and not always at the right time and with the right person.