on the team. She and I became friends, and she began to
be relaxed and friendly around the group after that.”
■“This is an incident that happened while I was in school.
There were some students who would abuse the library as
a place to hang out and socialize. It was really annoying
some days when the other students including me were
trying to study. I took it upon myself to seek out a person
who I thought was there the most often. I asked her if I
could talk with her in private. She complied. I explained the
problem of having to use the library as a quiet place where
I could concentrate and that there were other students in
the same boat. She listened and said she was having such a
good time that she wasn’t aware that she and her friends
were causing anyone a problem She said they would find a
new meeting place, and apparently they did because I
never saw her or her friends again.”
■“Yes, I actually lost a friend because I had to speak up and
be assertive. It was a matter of a man who was coming to
work late and leaving early. It wasn’t fair to the employees
who were coming in on time and working extra, if needed.
I talked to our supervisor and explained the problem
because I didn’t feel it was my place to talk to him directly.
The supervisor suggested that the three of us meet. I
agreed to attend the meeting. The guy became very angry
with me for complaining and as a result never spoke to me
again. He did however change his behavior about being
late and leaving early.”
“Give me an example of a time when you were
assertive and took the initiative.”
■“At my last company I was promoted to lead person
➥