Earth with Water

Earth: “We keep the machine running.” Water: “We make sure no one drowns.”

What you can do (Earth)

• Listen at least a little before making a decision: “Explain to me in two minutes what is happening, then we’ll see what can be done.”
• Transform feelings into concrete action: “OK, you are feeling tension with X. We can set up a three-way meeting and clarify roles.”
• Acknowledge their relational competence: “You spotted a conflict I didn’t see. Help me defuse it without stalling the work.”

To avoid (Earth)

• Dismissing everything emotional as “unprofessional.”
• Consistently telling them “you take everything too much to heart.”
• Using them as a dumping ground for human problems without ever giving them the power to act.