Remember this great
quote?
In John C. Maxwell’s
book, How Successful People Grow, the author disagrees stating: “... life is not like a box of chocolates. It’s more like a jar of jalapenos. What
we do today might burn our butts tomorrow!”
Recently I received a
bad report from a customer, which was addressed directly to my boss. Much to my
dismay it was a scathing e-mail addressing my incompetence and stating how she
never wants to work with me again. ME…
Can you believe it? … MR. “WONDERFUL”!
And therein lays the
problem! “Humility is the one virtue that disappears immediately as soon as
you realize you have it”. Somewhere
I allowed myself to lose my way and forgot how important it was to exercise
humility when dealing with this customer.
Although extremely
difficult to read, I realized that this e-mail was exactly what I needed. What
was intended to be a curse was actually a personal blessing in disguise. It
caused me to once again evaluate my attitude and motives when working with
customers.
There’s a great section
in Maxwell’s book that I wish I had reviewed BEFORE I ticked off this customer. He reminds us that we are all
just one step away from stupid!
Here’s how to keep from
taking that last step:
1. Remember the big picture - John F. Kennedy kept a plaque on his wall in
the White house with the inscription: “Oh God, thy sea is so great and my
boat is so small.” Keep a proper
perspective of yourself and any situation you are in.
2. Recognize that everyone has weaknesses and
remain humble.
How do you remain humble?
How do you remain humble?
·
Admit your weaknesses –
get help from someone on your team.
·
Have patience with other
people’s weaknesses - make it a practice to
exercise grace to others (My #1 issue with the customer I mentioned earlier).
·
Be open to correction -
it’s a good idea to never assume you won’t mess up, too.
3. Be teachable - your default mode should be to
think of yourself as an apprentice and not an expert. This will result in a
humble teachable posture. This posture results in a thirst for knowledge: ask
questions and listen in order to master.
4. Be willing to serve
others – putting others first sizes our egos and perspective.
5. Be grateful - If we’re really honest with
ourselves, we may come to realize that every accomplishment, every milestone,
we’ve ever achieved happened, in part, because of the efforts of others.
