Week One: Levels of Meaning

After reading the excerpts on levels of meaning in communication, I used the Skill Box questions to place the theories of content level versus relationship level into a personal context.  Soon after reading this article, a person in a position of authority warned me to "not let them walk all over me".  This person was referring to a group of women that I am to supervise over the course of a future project.  I interpret the content-level of this message as a request to be assertive.  However, the relationship level of meaning, guides me to infer much more from this statement because of past comments and interactions with this person.  Therefore, I conclude that this comment served as a reminder that he/she disapproves of my management style (I prefer empowerment and delegation) and expects me to interact with this group as he/she would (overt expressions of power).