Be Careful with People
You don’t know who might help you or hurt you
To tell you in advance, the moral of this article is that it pays to be gracious and respectful to almost everyone you meet, because you don’t know just who may be able to help you or hurt you.
Once upon a time, I heard a story told by a small business owner. Supposedly, a man came to his office for a business meeting. I am not sure exactly what the prospective deal involved, but the man let the woman at the front desk know that he was not interested in talking to her. He was a big important salesman on a big important sale, and he wanted to talk to the top man in the office, not a lowly receptionist.
Well, he got the top man in the office all right. When he heard what was happening, the business owner stomped out, pointed to the receptionist and yelled: “HEY! Were you rude to her?! That’s my WIFE! Get the F- out of here!”
And, Mr. Big Important Salesman’s big important sale was dead on arrival as of then . . . .
That story resonates all the more forcefully with me — because something like that also happened to me.
The year after I heard that story, I had left the small business and was interviewing for a new job. A young man met me at the office and conducted the preliminary interview. I remember thinking something along the lines of ‘well, he seems kind of young and inexperienced but RED ALERT! You don’t know what kind of influence he has around here!” So, I tried to be fully respectful and professional with the young interviewer. And, a day or so after the interview, I personally delivered a hand-written ‘thank you’ card to the office. The card seemed to make an impression because, at my follow-up interview with the company, the same young man took the card out of a file on me, smiled, and said ‘this was really smart!’
I am happy to say that I got the job. And, guess what I learned on my first day at the office? Sure enough, the young man who had interviewed me turned out to be married to the owner of the business! So, it was a good thing that I did not underestimate him.
So, in conclusion, it is a good best practice to be respectful and polite with almost everyone you meet — even ones who outwardly seem lower down on the totem pole — because you cannot be sure who just might be in position to help you or hurt you.
