assertiveness involves the ability to communicate clearly, specifically, and unambiguously, while at the same time being sensitive to the needs of others and their responses in a particular encounter.

Finally, these leaders are composed under pressure.

Self-regard is the ability to respect and accept yourself—essentially liking the way you are. To

First, they sometimes confuse empathy with being “nice”—with making generally polite and pleasant statements. This is not what empathy means.

The first step in combating feelings of being overwhelmed and powerless, which are associated with being stressed out, is to regain control. Simply writing down all the many situations with which you are dealing moves you from a passive position to an active stance.

1. Draw the five columns, as shown in Table 2.1 below.

Independence is the ability to be self-directed and self-controlled in your thinking and actions and to be free of emotional dependency.

Putting that understanding into words solidifies your relationship with that other person, and shifts it from an adversarial into a collaborative relationship.

Write down the incident—the activating event—that seemed to trigger this upsetting situation in column A,