Talk about a time you had to communicate with an unhappy colleague or customer. How did you improve the situation for everyone involved?

"A few weeks ago, about an hour before closing time, a customer stormed through our front door and approached me at a rapid place with a mad look on her face. She slammed a bag on the counter and demanded a refund for a shirt she had purchased last week because she claimed it had a tear in the armpit. Before I could even say anything, she began berating our store for selling inferior products and demanded to see a manager right away. As calmly as I could, I told the lady that I would be glad to take care of a return for her and put her in contact with a manager. I let her know that I'd need to take her number, as our manager was not in the store that evening. While she still left upset after receiving a refund, I followed up with my manager the next morning to ensure that he followed up with her. He let me know that she had calmed down and thanked me for my service the evening prior. I know that my ability to not take her harsh words personally made the situation better."

"Last year, I showed up to work to find my close colleague in a fit of rage at his work area. He was slamming desk drawers and using inappropriate language. Knowing that this wasn't his typical behavior, I immediately walked over to see what was wrong. He told me he had received a bad customer complaint the day before and was reprimanded for it by our manager. He talked badly about our manager, and I immediately cut him off. I tried to replay the conversation for him and then asked him what led to the customer complaint. I took an empathetic approach to learn why he was feeling the way that he did and quickly learned that he was in the wrong. My advice to him was to take a quick walk, calm down, and then go talk to our boss. Later that day, he thanked me for my great advice."