I had all good intentions of writing this blog about a wonderful person by the name of Ms. Peggy; but a brief encounter I had yesterday with a senior-living professional changed all that. So Ms. Peggy, I will write about you soon. I promise.
What would possess a senior-living professional to become defensive the instant I approach him or her and ask how things are going in his/her domain? Fear of losing control? Possessiveness of process? I could not get out of the way of this person’s wrath fast enough. I had never met this person before and hope to never cross paths again.
This is not the first time that I have experienced cold-spirited human interaction in the senior-living setting. Importantly I ponder… if these professionals are in direct contact with people I love and care about, what the heck goes on after I leave?
An organization filled with honest, motivated, connected, eager, learning, experimenting, ethical, and driven people will always defeat the one that merely has information. Every time.
So… do us all a favor and get out of the senor-living business if you…
- live in fear of losing your job
- are a control freak
- prefer to tell people what to do and how to do it
- are emotionally closed off to interacting with strangers
- think you are always right
- are closed to new ideas
- can’t take criticism
- have a tough time parking your ego at the front door
- have a low trust threshold
I am waging a war on job attitude. Not everyone thrives in a customer-facing role. (And yes, yesterday I was a customer.). If you are not a 100% people-person, do us all a favor and leave the business altogether. The good news is professional head-hunters have identified specific careers that do not require a customer-facing role. Perhaps you are better off in some of these fields:
- Accountant
- Technical Writer
- Graphic Designer
- Software Developer
- Medical Laboratory Technician
- Information Security Analyst
I hope you give it serious thought.
