I Promise I'll Return Your Call

I was in Chicago last week, meeting with clients and looking for other opportunities (including going in-house).  As always, I was jacked for the trip.  Returning to my hometown.  The greatest people.  Tons to do.  Best food anywhere.  And, oh yeah, my family.

It used to be very simple.  I would make connections, discuss upcoming projects, re-establish relationships and lament about the Cubs.  Same four chords... just like Axis of Awesome (click on title).

(I'll admit, that was a cheap rhetorical device to incorporate this clip.  Was totally worth it.)

But this time, it was different.  Maybe it was me, but something was missing... a little something called common courtesy.  Changing availabilities, shifting agendas, breakdowns in communication.  Sure, everybody's busy and doing more to get by, but c'mon, we're all in this together, right?  And not just the surface-y stuff, either.  I'm talking major eye contact here.

And then the karma train hit me right between the eyes - Do I do this? 

Am I reluctant to return calls that will be uncomfortable, and then, when too much time passes, resist making the call because it would be even more awkward (like this sentence)?  The answer, unfortunately, was yes.

Wow!  I'd had three meetings re-scheduled already and I was feeling guilty, although some of that could be attributed to being with family.  Right then, I decided I would always return phone calls, and more.

Now, it's time to establish a new covenant.  With a moderate degree of fanfare, I present to you (trumpet blare): 
  
The Five Commandments of Corporate Courtesy  

I.   Don't quasi-schedule meetings that are never to be.

II. Don't over-promise and under-consumate. 

III. Don't set floating appointments.

IV.  Don't lie under the guise of "technically, the truth."

V.  Don't change or eliminate budgets after delivery.

I understand people are scared - scared that they'll lose their job, that they'll never get another job, that they'll have too much to do, that their inadequacies will be uncovered, that their being overqualified will be discovered, that their salaries and fees will be reduced, that they'll have to find another line of work, that someone younger/more experienced/more connected/more something will replace them.

Which is way this is more important than ever.

No matter how hard it gets, now matter how many mergers take away jobs, no matter how many downsizings loom, no matter how many budgets get slashed, no matter how many overtime hours are eliminated, no matter how overwhelmed or lost we feel, let's be decent and honest with each other.

So, do we have a deal?

-Ed Roth
edrothshow@gmail.com

Subscribe below for e-mail updates

Follow us!