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Subject:How to be successful? (A Bit Long) From:Suzette Seveny <sseveny -at- PETVALU -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 21 Aug 1998 11:59:03 -0400
I just realized that I have been approaching my career all wrong! I thought
that being good at my job, having a professional demeanor, possessing excellent
communication skills, winning the respect of management as well as my peers,
etc., would eventually ensure my success. I have even been delusional enough
to believe that over the past several years it has been working. I have just
now realized there's so much more I need to achieve. The last couple of posts
pointed this out to me.
How to Deal with Extremely Difficult Personalities:
<snip> Show her you can be compassionate. Maybe she just needs a friend.
Smother her with kindness. ... Showing someone you can be a friend can go a
long ways. ... I believe the two of you will find it is possible to forgive
and move on ... <end snip>
Technical Writing Tips:
<snip> Learn to bake fudge or brownies ... <end snip>
Before you jump all over me, I want to say that both posts had excellent
comments, as did all the other posts regarding the Demon SME. I seldom read
extremely long posts in an extremely long thread, and some excellent advice has
been given. The Technical Writing Tips is very valuable as well, and many
thanks to Doug for putting this together. It definitely will be a keeper.
Seriously though, this is business. I might use the above approaches to deal
with a difficult neighbour, or whatever, but not at work. I'm not suggesting
vindictiveness or revenge, by any means, but neither do I advocate the
opposite. I attempt to be as professional as possible at work, and will treat
others with professional respect and courtesy. I expect others to treat me the
same way. If someone treated me in the manner described by Anonymous, I would
definitely not bake them fudge or brownies. If she needs friends let her join
a sewing circle.
Follow the advice given to document everything, meet with your superior / her
superior, etc. Do all this in a professional manner, without anger or vindi
ctiveness. It is a business problem, it needs a business solution.
On another topic, I believe that women baking "goodies" for someone (even if
it's the entire office), damages the credibility of professional women. I have
never worked in an office where a man brought in home-baked goods. In offices
where women did this occasionally, they were treated differently (less
seriously) than other women in the office.
Just offering a different opinion,
Suzette Seveny
Markham, Ontario, Canada
sseveny -at- petvalu -dot- com
