Do you have a colleague that you consider "annoying", because he always defends his point of view, in a calm and positive tone, without getting angry, and manages to assert himself in front of others, some of whom are too driven and aggressive, and others too passive? It should not irritate you, but, on the contrary, perhaps you should follow his example, because, as I said, such an attitude often leads to the achievement of goals. If you are wondering what this behaviour is called, reading the article you will find out that it is called assertiveness, a behaviour halfway between aggressiveness and passivity.

What is assertiveness?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, assertiveness is defined as "Sincerity, positivity, insistence on acknowledging one's rights". Extrapolated, being assertive means standing up for your rights, including expressing your thoughts, feelings and beliefs, in a direct, honest and context-appropriate way, but at the same time respecting the thoughts, feelings and beliefs of others. As you will see below, there are very few people who are born assertive, as it is a learned communication and social skill, its manifestations being much more subtle than aggression or passivity.

Being assertive means taking into account your own rights, desires and needs as well as those of others, and even encouraging them to be open in that direction. Here are some examples of assertive behaviour:

- listening to others and responding appropriately, whether you agree or disagree with them;

- accepting responsibility and being able to delegate responsibility to others;

- to regularly express your appreciation of others and what they do/have done;

- be able to admit mistakes and apologise;

- be able to maintain self-control;

- to behave as an equal to others, not their superior or inferior.

Discover what assertiveness means!

Recently, we have also introduced the Emotional Intelligence and Assertiveness Course into our programmes, designed for teams to understand the role of emotions, ultimately learning to live each state authentically. In the course emotional masks will fall away and interactions with others will become more constructive, regardless of the context in which they take place. In addition to the latest research on emotions, from fields as diverse as psychology, medicine, biology and neuroscience, you will also have access to concrete case studies on interactions between business partners, colleagues and personal life.

Whether you are a manager or entrepreneur who wants to communicate assertively with team members, or whether your work involves interactions with suppliers, customers or other business partners, you need training in assertiveness to better understand the emotions of others, but also how to relate to them and to collaborate with everyone in an ideal way. Wellbeing strategies, improving relationships between team members, managing stress and uncertainty, increasing motivation and reducing conflict are also central themes of our new course.