Forums

Hi I come from India and have been working in US for last 20 years. My current boss for the last 3 years more than often uses this line on me  “ I would like you to ......” when deligating a task. This tone in his email seems to bother me. He otherwise speaks nicely to me and we share good relationship. He generally has problems handling pressure and often times his face turns red when he is angry, has bad temper occasionally. Should I be offended by his tone or is it considered positive in the context of American culture ?? 

mrreliable's picture

"I would like you to..." sounds like a friendly, direct, respectful manner in which to present a task. I can't see anything offensive about it.

In my opinion it's a mistake to try to detect a "tone" when you're communicating by email. In fact, email is notorious for giving the wrong impression when it comes to tone. That's why you have to be extremely careful when communicating via email, especially in business. What is meant as a joking manner can come across as a personal insult, and what is meant as a direct statement for clarity can come across as terse and dismissive. You said this person speaks nicely to you and you share a good relationship. The direct interaction is a much better indicator of the level of respect this person has for you.

Unless this person actually says or does something disrespectful in an email, I think you're reading too much into it.

ecineko's picture

thanks

DJ_150's picture

"I would like you to" is pretty standard, straight forward phrase when assigning a task.  Possibly your boss is a high D? I would not be offended by this phrase. (I actually appreciate it in some cases because I know exactly what they are asking me to do) 

ecineko's picture

thanks