“Patience to an extreme is cowardice” George JacksonIn a conversation once upon a time with a colleague when discussing (gossiping) about another colleague and discussing the other colleague’s professional merits (shortcomings) I said, “but he’s a nice guy” and my colleague said “we’re all nice guys, it has nothing to do with it”.
Damn! Aced again!
We all want to be thought of as “nice guys”. We want people to like us and say nice things about us and invite us to functions and introduce us to their friends, and…you get the picture.
The fact is we often confuse like with respect. We think if people like us they’ll automatically respect us. And, that’s partially true. If people like you then they want to trust you and thus they tend to give you more rope than people they don’t like (or trust). A longer rope may mean that when the horse is whipped out from under you your feet may hit the ground…or not. Now, I’ve never been hanged but I would think a short rope would give you a better chance at survival whereas a long rope (if not long enough to get your feet to the ground) would create a SNAP that could take your head off.
Regardless, the trouble is, sometimes being nice comes part and parcel with being patient. And patience, as we’ve all been taught, is a virtue. Well yeah, but…..
….there are situations where you need to take hold of things and just make them happen regardless of whether you pinch a few toes and fingers along the way. Maybe it’s in everyone’s best interest for the rope to be short.
Fact is, your high-caliber colleagues, your subordinates and your bosses are rooting for you to do just that. It may involve an under-performing employee, a dishonorable vendor, a profit-eating customer, an out of control investor or a time and resource sucking prospect.
Some problems fix themselves, or so I’ve been told. Fact is, like being hanged, I’ve never actually experienced it.
Damn! Aced again!
We all want to be thought of as “nice guys”. We want people to like us and say nice things about us and invite us to functions and introduce us to their friends, and…you get the picture.
The fact is we often confuse like with respect. We think if people like us they’ll automatically respect us. And, that’s partially true. If people like you then they want to trust you and thus they tend to give you more rope than people they don’t like (or trust). A longer rope may mean that when the horse is whipped out from under you your feet may hit the ground…or not. Now, I’ve never been hanged but I would think a short rope would give you a better chance at survival whereas a long rope (if not long enough to get your feet to the ground) would create a SNAP that could take your head off.
Regardless, the trouble is, sometimes being nice comes part and parcel with being patient. And patience, as we’ve all been taught, is a virtue. Well yeah, but…..
….there are situations where you need to take hold of things and just make them happen regardless of whether you pinch a few toes and fingers along the way. Maybe it’s in everyone’s best interest for the rope to be short.
Fact is, your high-caliber colleagues, your subordinates and your bosses are rooting for you to do just that. It may involve an under-performing employee, a dishonorable vendor, a profit-eating customer, an out of control investor or a time and resource sucking prospect.
Some problems fix themselves, or so I’ve been told. Fact is, like being hanged, I’ve never actually experienced it.
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