Mind Your Language...

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I remember I started my first job; my boss was a nice man. He for a very large part you could say was my mentor. But he would let his mouth run away with him. Needless to say that didn’t sit well with a lot of people within the organisation. Ultimately this caught up with him. Now this is a bit of an extreme situation but we all have seen sparks of this.

How one talks to a waiter, a liftman, cabbie speaks volumes about a person. When you walk out of an elevator do you thank the liftman? At the end of the cab ride do you thank the cabbie? Do say could you please to the server who is waiting on your table? And most importantly if you are an entrepreneur do you diplomatically stand up for your staff when a clients’ anger has gotten the better of him/her?

Having been a waiter, a housekeeper and a dishwasher let me tell you; it will surprise you how people talk to you or behave with you. I have known school friends who have walked passed me when they saw me in uniform at the hotel I was working at. Those same people have turned 180 degrees when they found out I have put my name on a door. I have known customers to be rude and inappropriate at times as well. Unfortunately, my boss wasn’t always there to stand by me.


 As a boss we should never forget we have a duty to our employees. They look to us to defend them and stand by them. This in turn recreates loyalty. Just today a customer told me “XXX, said these were the only caterers on your panel and he wouldn’t call anyone else.” I knew this wasn’t true. So I turned around and said “I am sure what he meant was these are all the caterers he has contacted SO FAR. Because these are all the contacts we have. But I am sure given time he will look out for more.”




What did I achieve with this:

1.     I very diplomatically told her “ You can’t try your stunts with me girl.”
2.      My employee had a smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear.
3.     I retained my client, as I didn’t make her feel awkward.

Words once spoken can’t be taken back. Sometimes being at the receiving end of them isn’t easy. But that doesn’t mean you have to react in a similar manner. Knee jerk reactions never served any good purpose in such situations. Especially as business owners we are expected to keep our cool at all times, which might I add is humanly impossible, but you should try. Chances are you will succeed 8 out 10 times. The odds for which aren’t bad.

Create a persona people aspire to be. Till you get to that stage…. Remember


Smile, Breathe and Go Slowly……

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