Flirting and Frustration: Flirting and Frustration Let’s start by looking at flirting. In the workplace, it’s often seen as a friendly act to help us feel connected to our colleagues, but do you really think someone who is flirting with you is trying to be your friend? Or do they think they’re being friendly by showing attention to you? Flirting can be an act of aggression, too. It’s also really common in the workplace. People say they flirt to communicate that they’re interested in someone, but often, they’re doing it for another reason — they want to hurt someone. Facing Off: Facing Off Facing off occurs when we feel threatened. And a workplace setting can be a perfect environment for this to happen. We could even look at this in terms of power and status. The higher-status person might feel threatened by the lower-status person’s interest in them. Maybe the higher-status person thinks that they have an obligation to maintain their position in the company or to continue seeing an employee that’s only a lower-level worker. Power Puff: Power Puff Power puff happens when we’re angry, frustrated, or upset. In the workplace, people will react in frustration to things like work deadlines and decisions that they don’t agree with. It’s normal to get angry about these things, but if someone gets fired up because they’re angry over something in the workplace, that can definitely be a sign of power puff. Working Out: Working Out Maybe some of us need to exercise and get that rush, and it can be the perfect expression of our frustration. In work situations, it’s one way we can release some of that frustration that’s building up inside of us — our power puff can be released when we’re doing some physical activity. So if you see someone who’s really agitated at work, you might want to see if they’re not the type of person who’s physically active at work. Maybe that’s the reason you’re seeing the frustration. So if you’re in that workplace, it’s something to watch out for — someone’s frustration may be coming out in some other ways, and it’s definitely worth looking into what could be causing that. A Bitter Outbreak: A Bitter Outbreak Sometimes, when people are feeling threatened, there’s the threat of violence — they can retaliate in that way. They’re going to fight back in some way. The one thing we really want to look out for at the workplace is threats of violence — you don’t want someone to say something to you like “I have a friend who had an encounter with this person, and they did X to that person and they said it all went OK.” An Iguana Spit: An Iguana Spit We might not ever see it as an act of hostility in the workplace, but sometimes, it is. It’s an iguana’s version of “a bitter outbreak,” but with a little bit more hostility. If you’re feeling put down or put in an unpleasant situation at work, an iguana could be displaying the same kind of behavior — that’s the more hostile response to things in the workplace. A Blowout: A Blowout Blowouts might seem like the kind of hostile act that happens in the classroom, but they happen more often in the workplace. That’s because someone could feel like they’ve been left out. And they might be really angry and aggressive because of it. Blowouts can come out because someone is trying to reconnect to a group, or they might also come from a place of power. We see more aggressive behaviors in people who feel that they’re being put down, and they want to get back at whoever’s making them feel that way. A Tail: A Tail A tail is an act of aggression from a cat or a dog. Maybe that’s what we see a lot of in our workplaces — a lot of people’s behaviors. The dog or cat may be trying to get the attention of the other animal, and it’s a little bit aggressive. It’s aggressive behavior from an animal. You can call it an act of hostility or power puff. It’s probably an indirect way of going after the other person. An Unfortunate Mistake: An Unfortunate Mistake Sometimes, people in the workplace might accidentally do something that’s meant to be a compliment. Maybe the person says something along the lines of, “You’ve done a great job.” If you think someone’s done a great job, don’t immediately tell them that. Give them some time. Say things like “I appreciate that you’ve given this presentation, but maybe it needs a little bit more from me,” and then maybe compliment them again. But if you’re going to be the one to do that, don’t accidentally say things like, “Great job” to someone who’s not very good at their job. It’s always so interesting when we’re seeing these things occur in the workplace. What’s also interesting is we’re seeing it a lot more today. A while back, it was much more of a private situation. If someone was saying something they didn’t intend to — maybe you might ask them why they said what they said — but today, because of social media, you can see everything. We just have to be careful to look for that in the workplace so that we can support each other in a healthy way, especially when there are difficult issues being raised. Featured image by Pixabay. For more, check out the links below: Related Articles Liked it? Take a second to support Self-Esteem Games on Patreon! Like this: Like Loading...