mind your business: Healing a Broken Relationship at Work

A broken relationship at work is a lot like a broken leg. It can make you avoid certain places or take a different route in and out of your office. It can dominate your conversations with friends and make your loved ones wish you would just shut up about it. Broken work relationships make you less productive and tempt you to overdo the "pain medication," despite the dangers it can bring.

Unfortunately, the risks of not treating your broken relationship are also like having a broken leg. It can become an ever-increasing problem or infection. It might change how you act in the future, making you a bit gun-shy and eager to avoid another broken leg. The broken relationship might even wear you out emotionally and physically, so much so that you just want to escape, even if that means accepting a job offer for less pay.

You might go back and examine how your leg or relationship became so broken. Thoughts like "What did I do so wrong?" and "How could this happen to me?" might float through your head. But how it broke isn't nearly as important as how you respond.

Healing a broken relationship requires you to leave your comfort zone and "put some weight" on the relationship. While we don't have the benefit of a doctor to prescribe a fast cure, here are six ways to move recovery along.

1. Choose to Heal

Your ultimate success depends on how you approach the situation. Decide if this thing is going to heal and get better or if it is going to be a pain forever. The choice is completely under your control and it matters which option you choose.

Some won't listen to any advice, even from professionals. They don't believe the relationship will get any better, so they won't try anything. They stick to complaining as their only "therapy."