Today was the last full day of an extended period of uninterrupted days with Jack. 10 days and 9 glorious nights, to be exact. His mom and I have a 50/50 hussle and shuffle schedule otherwise. This week was a real treat.
Anyway, while I was toiling away building a fort in Jack's bedroom today while he supervised and peeled some fruit for us to enjoy... something happened. But I wouldn't have known about it if not for the pure honesty of a 5 year old.
Handing me exactly half of a peeled Clementine orange, "Here you go, Papa."
"MMMMMmmmmm. Thanks, Jack."
"It tastes really good even though I dropped it on the floor, right?"
Laughing, "It sure does!"
It occurred to me a bit later how different my day to day work life would be if I was this totally transparent with people. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm honest and credible. Absolutely. But I'm also diplomatic and careful. You would be AMAZED at how much emotion I filter out of dialog between two negotiating parties, for example. Or how many problems I solve without ever letting my clients know there was one (or a dozen). This is part of my value. I'm a fixer. My job is to get things done.
After doing this as long as I have now, I'm pretty good at predicting how things are going to go. But my clients aren't as practiced. So as they melt down, heat up or outright blow a gasket- my diplomatic, careful side takes over. I believe that ability is a large contributor to how people feel and the great things they have to say at the end of their Real Estate Roller Coaster Ride when they've had me as their trusted carny.
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