Page 138 - The Voice of Authority

Interpret Reaction According to the Context

A friend of mine, Sue Hershkowitz-Coore, tells the story
of being on an airplane, headed home after a long week
of travel. It had been a long hard day with several mishaps
one after the other, including almost missing her flight,
one she’d had to risk life and limb to catch in order to get
home in time to make her son’s baseball game. Just as
she’d breathlessly fastened her seat belt and the plane had
taxied away from the gate, the pilot announced a two-
hour delay in takeoff, making it impossible for her to ar-
rive home in time to see her son’s game. Simultaneously,
the flight attendant stopped by to ask, “And will you be
having the beef or chicken tonight?” Sue burst into tears.
As people react to what you write or say, consider the
context. Do they fear a pending merger? Are they already
experiencing massive upheaval because of a merger? Is
their comment in the wake of a layoff? Is their workload
mind-numbing at the moment? Are deadlines looming
large? Are they dealing with a personal problem that’s
adding stress to their workload?
What’s true of people’s feelings, opinions, or judgments
today may change next week or next month based on the
context. You’ll not want to make long-term decisions and
responses based on a person’s short-term reactions.

Act on What You Hear and Report
on What You’ve Done

The CEO of a large independently owned office supply
and furniture company discovered the best way to com-
pete with the national retail chains was to offer excep-
tional service. The focus of that service is listening to the
customer with concern and taking immediate action.

126 The Voice of Authority