What did they do?
Someone suggested I get a book called “Discover what You Are Best At.”
I always thought I just hated working; the book showed me that there were a lot of jobs I’d never considered trying for. I picked out one course and got a good career out of it.
I can’t remember who it was who told me, so I’m sure they never thought of me again
I was working at a call center, and applied to become a supervisor, I didn’t get the position.
My supervisor at the time gave me some offhand feedback about how I was approaching other people and coming off as too cocky because I was really really good at my current role, I was #1 out of over 1000 agents on my call metrics.
Not sure if it was just the right person, the right time, the right method of delivery, whatever, but it finally clicked for me. That one piece feedback changed my whole personality and has given me so much opportunity over the last 20 years.
I got the supervisor position the next time I applied.
Edit: Just wanted to add that teenagers are stupid, including myself.
A good manager can really reset you if you’ve built that trust in ways they can’t even fathom.
I completely feel this. I had one that just said “I think you’re funny, you’re very sarcastic and it’s funny, but no one else here understands it and so they think you’re an asshole”. Also flipped me around, that while I thought I was constantly joking that these people are not my friend group and did not understand my very dry delivery.
Taught me to test the waters a bit before going full sarcasm, and people like me a lot more thanks to that
I had a very similar situation many years ago. I worked for a public school district for 23 years in the IT dept, and one of the teachers told me about 10 years into working there that he finally has learned how to work with me. When I asked what he meant he said, “First I’m going to ask you for help with something and you’re going to tell me no. Then you’re going to laugh and say yes.” While I obviously thought my variety of snark was funny and not at all irritating for someone who just wants help, it really made me stop and think.
After resigning from that job, I emailed him to thank him because it really changed my attitude on how to respond to people in tickets and calls. He probably didn’t think much of it at the time but I hope he understands now how much of an impact he made on me.
I might still be an overly sarcastic fuckwit to my team (who responds in kind), but I’ve been told my customer service is always some of the best and I’m able to talk them off the edge, whether they’re pissed at our organization or if they’re in a tech crisis. I feel I’m able to read them much better now and if they get sarcastic, I can return their energy. But otherwise my default is warm responses and keeping calm until we’re done with the issue.
Those people who died centuries (millennia) ago that were kind enough to putdown their ideas and thoughts onto paper (or some other kind of support) just to make sure that I (ok, I and a few other persons too ;)) would be able to read them and benefit from it. I appreciate that. A lot. As their writings helped a lot in becoming the person I am. Which is also why it makes me so sad to realize more and more people will never read a book, they just don’t know what they’re missing.
On a more mundane level, people being polite is one thing I appreciate a lot too and that I think is really helpful. It’s not a big thing, it’s saying ‘hi’, or just being nice to one another, not acting entitled and so on, but to me it means there is still an alternative way of life to this constant and quickly rising hate and anger that is becoming our new normal. Giving me some hope we’re not that badly screwed.
This wasn’t a single interaction, and I may be mixing up my personal experiences vs what others have told me vs stuff I’ve seen, but anyway.
Whenever I’m learning from a mentor or watching an instructor, it can be tremendously helpful to see them make a mistake, and more importantly, recover gracefully. This, to me, communicates a number of things.
- Everyone, even professionals, makes mistakes sometimes.
- Don’t be afraid to admit when you’ve made a mistake.
- Don’t wallow in your failures but rather learn from them and grow.
The scenario that comes to mind for me is a ham radio license class where someone was demonstrating proper Morse code technique. Mic fright (or key fright) is very common for green hams, and the fear of messing up is especially prevalent when communicating via Morse. Ultimately, the instructor’s mistake demonstrated, more or less, that “Hey, relax, this is just a hobby. Nobody’s going to die if your fist isn’t perfect. Do your best. The guy at the other end is more happy that someone new is learning CW than frustrated by your sloppy sending.”
