Productive Conflict – Belittling

Second in this series of Productive Conflict blogs, the act of belittling is explored in the Everything DiSC® Productive Conflict Reference Guide. This is what they have to say about it:

“By belittling someone, we create a demeaning, one-dimensional caricature of them. Not only does this make it easier to dismiss their opinions, but it can feel extremely satisfying. The power in belittling often comes from putting a label on someone that sums up all of the negative attributes we want to call out. It channels all of the frustrations we have into a single powerful word. And once that succinct label is out there, we can use it to easily dismiss anything else the person has to say. Ask yourself: What positive characteristics about this person am I choosing to overlook?”

Have you ever been belittled or done the same to someone else? By knocking someone else down a notch, does it really elevate our own selves? It may feel like it for a short time but eventually, we realize that it actually shows that the belittler took the low road, and that hurtful act didn’t accomplish anything productive. Harshly pointing out someone’s negative attributes isn’t going to motivate them to improve upon them. It could even cause that person to give up on trying to better themselves and accept that ‘that is just who they are’. The next time that you are tempted to belittle someone, consider what results you are trying to achieve and if there may be a better approach to reach a positive outcome.

To view the previous blogs in this series, click the link below:

Productive Conflict – Arguing (hrs-mt.com)

You can find more information including a video on Everything DiSC® Productive Conflict here:

https://www.hrs-mt.com/everything-disc-productive-conflict