I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours
Sunday, November 20th, 2005Good afternoon, campers! It’s been a c-c-cold weekend here in upstate New York, and we had some flurries early Saturday morning. It feels like winter, but it sure doesn’t look like it … I’m sure I’ll be thinking otherwise, when the first big snowfall of the season hits!
So, I was IMing earlier today with one of my old friends who lives on the west coast. She left her job earlier this year (good thing too, as she was miserable), took some time off and now, she’s getting back into the swing of things. We were talking about life and hubsters and work and blah blah, and then she mentioned that one of the job apps she’s completing posed an interesting question:
What are your mottoes in life?
What I found interesting is she couldn’t come up with something, right on the spot. I thought (albeit incorrectly, so it seems!) that most of us have at least one motto. Since she was stumped, I decided to share my mottoes with her:
Motto #1: The worst thing anyone can say to me is ‘no’
The driving force in my life and business and probably my #1 motivator. You don’t want to work with me, or you reject my proposal? No problem! I wish you luck and I WILL find folks who do want to work with me.
Motto #2: I’d rather be two hours early than five minutes late
Lateness, tardiness, whatever term you apply, it all makes me crazy. I do not believe in the concept of being “fashionably late,” something which drove me crazy when I lived in San Francisco. If you ask me to meet you at 3:00 PM for lunch, you can bet I’ll be there at 2:50 PM, waiting for you. Does our conference call begin at 10:00 AM? Fine. I’ll start dialing at 9:55 AM. For those of you who’ve been interviewed by me, or you wanted to attend one of my classes, you know how important punctuality is to me.
Motto #3: You’re a ’sir’ or ‘ma’am’ until you prove otherwise
Meaning: I treat you with 100% respect, from the get-go, until you give me a reason not to do so. Some people get a little irked when I address them as ’sir’ or ‘ma’am’ and I have to remind them that I do so out of respect for them and their time. I also tell them they should be VERY concerned if I stop addressing them as sir or ma’am, for when I do so they’ve lost my respect, and they need to take steps to remedy the situation. For all of you offended by these terms and see them as a sign of old age, get over it. It’s R-E-S-P-E-C-T and absolutely no indication of your age. I treat everyone the same, regardless of age, until YOU show me you don’t deserve my respect.
I’ve shown you mine. Your turn!
