If you were verbally-assaulted in a very public manner at a work-related forum that your job required you to attend like Sarah Huckabee-Sanders was at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner last week, what would you do? How would you respond at the moment of confrontation? What actions would you take afterwards? Keep reading to learn the top 3 ways to handle workplace conflict.

1. Remain Poised and In Control

“Never let them see you sweat” is an old, but true adage. When someone is openly trying to engage you in a workplace conflict, their goal is for you to lose your cool. To goad you into saying or doing something that would normally be out of character for you. It is a bullying technique. It was the technique that Michelle Wolf used with Sarah Huckabee-Sanders at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, and it was the same approach that the Sanhedrin Court used with Jesus Christ:

In the middle of this, the Chief Priest stood up and asked Jesus, “What do you have to say to the accusation?” Jesus was silent. He said nothing. The Chief Priest tried again, this time asking, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “Yes, I am, and you’ll see it yourself:

The Son of Man seated At the right hand of the Mighty One, Arriving on the clouds of heaven.”

The Chief Priest lost his temper. Ripping his clothes, he yelled, “Did you hear that? After that do we need witnesses? You heard the blasphemy. Are you going to stand for it?”

They condemned him, one and all. The sentence: death. Some of them started spitting at him. They blindfolded his eyes, then hit him, saying, “Who hit you? Prophesy!” The guards, punching and slapping, took him away.

Jesus stood up for himself, but he didn’t become provoked when goaded. Instead, he remained poised and in control – just as we should do.

2. Submit to God

The Holy Bible teaches us that if we will submit to God, we can prevail over the devil and the people he may try to use to battle us. (James 4:7) By submitting to God through daily prayer and obedience to God’s word; and to the spiritual leaders that God has put into your life, (Hebrews 13:7) you will have the ability to handle workplace conflicts with dignity and grace because it will be the Holy Spirit that is in you responding to your opposition instead of your own sin-nature.

And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say,for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.-Luke 12:11

3. Take Notes

Having a submitted spirit helps a great deal when dealing with a public confrontation in the workplace. But once the dust has settled, you will want to follow up with a private one-on-one conversation with the person you had the problem with in order to fully resolve the issue. Writing down what happened, how you felt about what happened, and what type of resolution you’d like to see take place will not only enable you to capture the details regarding the conflict that occurred while it is fresh in your mind, but it will allow you to be able to refer to the conflict-event in an analytical rather than emotional way.

What Workplace Conflicts Have You Dealt With?