I often give personal examples in my articles to express certain points but this one has been exceptionally difficult for me and I hope you will discern why from the story.

There are certain things that come with the territory for some functions in an organization. As a compliance, risk management and corporate governance champion, there are instances when you “clash” with colleagues due to misunderstandings or misalignment and even personality!

After having a couple of those clashes with a colleague and trying out different interventions, we got to understand each other better and were able to manage ourselves to get things done with a great measure of tranquility.

One day in our many conversations, my colleague, while acknowledging the positive efforts we made and continued to make in ensuring that we had a healthy working relationship, he told me that one of the biggest influences on his decision to work things out with me was my teammates. He said they helped him to understand me and how I worked which cleared some of the issues that I may not have managed to articulate for myself. This was totally unexpected for me… and to be honest, quite emotional.

Speaking of emotional, I began to ponder how my teammates managed to convince my colleague to reconsider some of the perceptions he had about me. I guess my teammates were empathetic towards me by putting themselves in my shoes. They must have used their intelligence to respond to feedback they received about me particularly, or the team to explain and clarify matters. While I note that they couldn’t have set out to “defend” me, they were able to listen and read messaging that suggested that I was being perceived in a certain way with a view to provide clarity and mutual understanding.

I find it a rare occurrence, hence my difficulty in packaging the article. I was overwhelmed by the gesture from my colleague for actually sharing with me, and my teammates for their exercise of emotional intelligence (EQ). I was drawn to further affirm my personal pledge to ensure that I always do my best by my team, peers, superiors and the organization.

You never know who can save your life!