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Ever wondered how and why your connection with your boss is stressful, and sometimes you leave your shift in tears?
Well, it all dates back to our attachment styles. Like how The Attachment Project (2020) explains, “the template that each of us formed in early childhood continues to affect our social interactions as adults.”
Our attachment styles are rooted in our upbringing, how our parents nurtured us, and how they handled conflict when we grew up; all play a role in our attachment styles.
There are four main attachment styles, Secure, Anxious, Avoidant, and Disorganised.
Having Secure as your attachment type means you are the kind of person who communicates clearly, handles criticism well and thrives in a teamwork/ leadership environment. If you are an Anxious type, you constantly seek reassurance from your bosses/ peers, and you possibly overthink every email and feedback you receive. In the end, you could burn out from over-performing.
If you are an Avoidant, you struggle in situations that involve collaborating; whenever there is a conflict, you pull away, and you tend to appear cold to others. Finally, having a Disorganised attachment means you can be unpredictable in communications, have a high stress tolerance and could potentially sabotage your workplace connections.
These attachment styles could affect how one appears as a leader. As a secure person, you can be an empowering and consistent leader. But on the other hand, as an avoidant leader, you tend to be detached, and any signs of emotions feel like labour.
Having attachment styles can severely impact workplace dynamics because it can cause miscommunications. As an example, an anxious employee might misread their “cold” avoidant boss as a hostile and rude person.
It can lead to employees feeling burnt out, anxious people feel that when they work overtime, there’s a reward, but avoidant people disengage whenever they feel like this.
Despite attachment styles being a new topic of conversation, leaders and employees need to know the attachment styles of their team members to have effective communication and produce good results。
Reanne (reannej.gregory@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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