Bad incidents have a huge impact on your behavior, thought process and reaction. These incidents get stored as bad memories and do not allow you to move on and severely affect your daily routine & well being.  Also, people around you including your colleagues, friends, and family get impacted as your behavior towards them change for the worse and they don’t really know the reason for this change.

Bad memories could be anything ranging from a fight at your workplace, negative feedback or public scolding by your manager. Death, accident or any incident that impacts you negatively. People affected by bad incidents impact their companies as well:

• Productivity falls as there is a loss of concentration. Also if the incident is related to the office the employee loses respect for the company
• Relationships with team members and managers take a fall which impacts team working
• Client management takes a hit as the affected employee’s behavior can have harmful impact on the relationship
• Such an employee is a bad brand ambassador for the company, as he spreads a negative word

All managers and leaders must be careful while criticizing their subordinates in relation to the place, people, reason and should not dwell in repeated excessive criticism.  It is important to note that humans live with bad memories much longer than good memories and it can take a huge amount of time to get over these memories.

One on one coaching sessions can help get over these incidents by ending their impact and converting them as any other bunch of memories.  Tools and techniques used in the sessions reaffirm the coachee that he is safe in his present and the incident no longer impacts him, which allows him to move on.  The coach focuses on listening and being non-judgmental which allows the coachee to express himself wholeheartedly. The opportunity to talk to the coach who is there to help and is unbiased is actually the first step to the healing process.

Coaching can be a great way to come over these bad memories simply because it creates an environment which allows the coachee to express, introspect and achieve self-realization that what is gone is gone and what is here is his present which he can enjoy at the same time work upon for a great future.