As small business owners, we come in contact with all sorts of different people. It can be a real test to our social skills and our ability to suspend judgment and deal with a diverse group of individuals. We still need to be able to evaluate what is going on, however, and make decisions in regards to our customers, clients, colleagues, etc. It might be helpful to remember that observing, reporting and acknowledging what is going on is different from being judgmental.
Let me explain: If you are talking about a particularly challenging customer, it is one thing to say: “She called me up and she said x,y,z. I felt frustrated when I could not figure out how to make her happy.” It is another thing to say something like: “What a horrible person she is! She is so stupid and she cannot communicate worth beans!” The first is a way of talking through and reporting what happened: first she said this and then she said that and then I felt this way (or that way). The latter is wrought with judgment and is really rather unproductive. Other than allowing you to vent and get out your negative opinions about the person, it does not necessarily help you to solve the problem.
Many of us think that anytime we say anything about someone else or something that happened, we are gossiping. I think it is a little more complicated than that. We need to be able to talk through and sort out our problems; we need to be able to acknowledge and report on the happenings of our lives and we can do that without being overly emotional or judgmental. When it comes to our home businesses, we can decipher what is going on with our various customers and clients without becoming over-emotional or getting stuck in judging and critiquing.