When the Boss Releases Her Inner Toddler

1. How might be the episode (scene) you experienced be explained from the situational perspective? From the interactionalist perspective?

In a situational perspective, it acknowledges that there are other variables that could alter the direct relationship, and that it depends to the elements of the situation the right managerial action or behavior in any circumstance. Like in the example, in the part where the VP will be presenting his report, he was affected by the noise of thudding against the wall and that was the reason that made him go around the room and lose focus on his presentation, knowing that the president was not happy of his report. Also, one of his jobs was to evaluate each month's performance and this could also be another factor that influenced the situation where the president was angry of him because of the low sales performance on the women's apparel department. While in an interactionalist perspective, the experience he had as one of the VPs at a small chain of regional clothing stores was very difficult and challenging, especially when it comes to the president who has the inability to accept negative results which also resulted to the VP’s behavior of being so afraid of a simple presentation and not knowing of his unconscious actions that lead the president of the company to be angry with him.

2. Have you ever encountered anyone who behaved in ways that can be compared to the behavior of the teacher? As you think back on your experience, how well does Taylor’s TOT framework help explain the individuals behavior?

There will be times when we will have to face someone behaving like the boss in the example, and our group is not an exemption. Each of us had encountered someone with that kind of behavior, having the same kind of experience regarding a teacher.
One of us explained that during her high school years, she had a teacher that showed tantrums in her class, throwing chalks to students that irritates, bothers, or disrupts her lecture flow. Looking back on that experience of hers, Taylor’s TOT framework can be really deemed true. Her teacher, on our perspective could have a childish behavior; she finds it hard to handle pressure or stress. She wants everything to happen in her favor and if not, she kind of freaks out. On the contrary, as to what Taylor explained regarding the TOT framework, it's really important to know how to react. When someone starts acting childish, we should be able to know how to parent that behavior. Understanding and patience is helpful too, because it could enable us to deal with negative situations the positive way. In the end, it all boils down to who acted professionally and who managed it all in a "just right" manner.

3. Of the items on Burn’s list of recommended coping techniques, which would you be most likely to adopt?

Situations like what happened to the VP in the example episode may not be avoided since people may display different behaviors. People could be good or bad towards you, and the only thing that you could do is just to understand where they came from, what might be the reason why they acted that way, or know how to handle the right way occurrences like those.
Of the coping techniques Karen Burn listed, there are a few that could be used in handling those circumstances. One of which is being a star performer, you should always maintain having a positive disposition even when put through hard conditions. For example, when the company you’re working on is going through unexpected turbulence, you could be the one who brings a positive vibe to the company, being optimistic towards the unfortunate event that happened. Another would be pick your moments, avoiding your boss would not be a good action, one way to do it is to face your boss in the right moment. Seek community, as much as possible; seeking the help of others would make your experience in the workplace a lot more less than heavy, it is nice when you have someone to share with your short comings in the workplace. And lastly, Control what you can, just always keep in mind that you cannot control everything, what you can do is know the way how you would handle it.