The best advice I ever got
money.cnn.com
money.cnn.com
"when the customer says yes, stop talking."
"always assume positive intent. Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent."
"I've noticed that some of the most effective leaders don't make themselves the center of attention. They are respectful. They listen."
"you shouldn't go chasing after fancy titles, but try to find people who can teach you something. "
If you patiently wait and show that you are engaged in thought, this is good. If you keep offering more and more, just to close the deal, you will get taken to the cleaners. And, if you press things too hard, you will be shown the door, ever so politely.
Just my two cents; seemed to fit, a little. grin
Ouch. I've gotten (seriously) burned on that one more than once. I'd hope for something more nuanced, like "assume positive intent, but protect yourself anyway."
After years of doing "okay" at things I don't particularly shine at, I'm coming to realize that the above advice could really yield dividends.
I guess not.
....
My father wrote in my sixth-grade yearbook quoting Hamlet - Polonius to his son, Laertes: "To thine own self be true."
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord [viz, Polonius], one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous--
Almost, at times, the Fool.2 suggestions:
- Dust the slide show and put it on one page. It's 2008.
- Get rid of the military person. Who wants advice from someone who's handed someone else's trillion dollars? You're talking to an audience who has to earn their own revenue.