| All-caps emails punctuated with rows of exclamation marks.
A surprisingly negative performance review.
Aggressive lines of questioning.
Dorcas Cheng-Tozun has experienced all of this and more in her career. One might guess she works in a high-powered corporate setting or a government office. But no—each of these abrasive interactions took place in nonprofit or social enterprise settings.
As a sensitive empath, Cheng-Tozun struggled with anxiety and stress because of negative interactions with supervisors or co-workers. But in hindsight, she finds herself grateful for these colleagues. Their approach may not have always been gentle, but they pushed her to grow beyond what was comfortable.
“In a sphere like social justice, conflict and resistance are inevitable,” writes Cheng-Tozun in her book excerpted at CT. “When the warrior activists take on the louder, messier fights, they create space for us priestly advisers to work in more subtle ways.”
As we take care to speak with kindness and set boundaries in our relationships, may we also bear in mind that assertiveness and intensity can be tools in the hands of those working for the glory of God and the good of others. |
