Mode of challenging

 Two aspects I've grown and learnt over the last couple of years in this office as the Economer: 

Mood and mode of challenging: Challenging, confronting and pulling up people for various reasons is  something I was used to. In fact, everyone considered me a task-master.  That hasn't changed much.  But what has evolved is the ability to pause before jumping to action, and the self-reflection to ensure that I'm doing the confrontation for the right reasons and the good of all concerned.  The pause gives me time and space to calm myself and evaluate my reasons (not justify them).  The self-reflection has taught me to do the confrontation keeping in mind the larger picture and the greater good, rather than for the sake of 'teaching him a lesson'. Not confronting at all has not been an option for me.  But whenver I've done the confrontation right, for the right reasons, I've not had any guilt or regret.  If at all there was regret, it was mostly because I did not do the confrontation right or for the higher good; but not for the point which needed to be challenged. 

Picking my battles: Not all fights are worth the effort and energy.  If there is something that I see as the greater challenge and I can prevent that into turning out to be a major issue later, I'd prefer to use the 'word in the ear' technique rather than go out guns blazing about a smaller issue right now.  Not that the small issue at hand is right or that I do not condemn it, but if the larger good can be achieved then this small issue will automatically be taken care of or even overlooked, if the greater good is achieved.  This has helped me conserve my energy for some productive works rather than dissipate it in mere fire-fighting.