No More Mr Nice Guy Alice Cooper Album Art

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"You're too dainty, Aby." At the risk of sounding similar I'yard tooting my ain horn, this is a phrase that has been leveled at me at many points in my life, and it'due south often said to me with a faint accusatory whiff around information technology. I've often thought it to be weird that beingness nice could e'er be seen equally a negative attribute, merely, over the years, I've come to realize what most individuals mean when they say this statement to me the directive is to not let people take advantage of me (and my goodwill) to practice things for them, without even a brief nod to, well, my welfare and well-beingness.

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This tin happen in different ways, of class- 1 example of such a situation is when I bend over backwards to adjust a late asking or an unreasonable demand from a client on a projection, merely because I am mindful of the importance of this particular customer to our business organisation, and as such, I am eager to make sure the customer is always happy and satisfied, no matter what. Entrepreneurs, I'm certain at least some of you tin identify with this sentiment of mine: when you're a startup, every customer is disquisitional to your business, and you don't want to lose whatever of them. Because, at the cease of the day, these customers –regardless of their personalities or attitudes- are the ones who are fueling your fledgling business organisation, and while onlookers tin can say that "y'all don't deserve to exist treated like this," you, as a startup, sometimes simply don't take the luxury of beingness choosy almost whom you work with. Information technology's not about wanting to go on them happy; you have to keep them happy- and as a effect, you're willing to exercise a heck of a lot more than what's necessary to become them to experience that way. If that means you have to work twenty-four hours and dark to go the chore done, you'll do it. If that means you lot accept to practice things that you're not accustomed to, y'all volition do it. If that means you need to tolerate their irrational behavior with a smile, you'll do it.

And that brings me back to my apparently overt niceness in certain situations. Generally, such instances happen because of my personal attitude toward work- I'g simply bully on getting the job washed in such a way that the stakeholders involved are both satisfied and delighted with what my team and I have washed. When I run into bad behavior from clients, I feel the easier thing to do would exist to say a apartment "no," and accept an impasse as a result- the tougher affair to practise, in my opinion, is to remain respectful, discover a middle ground, continue to work with them, and still go the job done. Of class, this does not at all hateful that you should be a doormat and let yourself be treated desperately time and again (if that'due south the case, it's time for some tough conversations, as The Difficult Talk Handbook author Dawn Metcalfe would put information technology). Simply my point here is that when you deal with people that -you think- are behaving in a problematic fashion, it may be well worth your while to have an open up heed, listen to the other's perspective, and then attempt to observe a mode to piece of work with them in a way that's agreeable to you equally well. And if that results in you being called too nice for doing so- well, I'd say that you lot should take it as a compliment. But that'southward just me- tell me what you think by tweeting at me on @thisisaby.

Related: Support Systems: What To Do When Things Seem To Be Going Out Of Control

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Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/321790

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