Tag: Respect

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don't speak...don't speak!

Good Transition

In a week I’ll transition from one great job to what has the potential to be an equally great job.  After last year I doubted my ability to have a great job.  Funny and annoying what one will let others do to their confidence.

I’m not one that needs to be patted on the back or even ever told I’m doing a good job.  Just give me a nice place to work that embraces, professional respect and accountability.  I’m a firm believer that you can have this anyplace in any business.  And surprise, surprise I found it in a shipyard of all places.

The shipyard is unique because it’s real.  The work is real.  The people are real.  I spent 15 years in the world of drama that is the creative industry.  I’m not saying that the people or the work there isn’t real in the creative industry  (when I hit the publish button on this post I risk – well let me say this – creative industry peeps – my apologies – do not take this personally)  But really, the worry of the day there in the world of worries is, well pretty insignificant.

Shipbuilding is a dangerous business.  The people there are smart, talented, focused, engaging and interested in who their co-workers are.  And how their co-workers are doing.  They are ready with an answer to your question and take pride in what you learn, even if they weren’t the one teaching you. They welcome the opportunity to teach you.  They care about their co-workers and take pride in what they accomplish as a team and individually.  They take pride in showing off their daily accomplishments.  They can’t afford to think of only themselves.  That can be fatal.

Their code is;

Be Smart-Be Careful-Be Productive-Be Flexible-Be Considerate

And you know what, they are.  And much more.

Last year after being dropped to half time, banished to the basement (my dining room table) and leaving on a date set by employer at what I thought was my dream job (more risk here after I hit publish) for a handful of mistakes.  Small mistakes they said.  I doubted everything.  I thought about listing some of those small mistakes.  Or listing the mistakes (some similar some not so small) I saw others make as I sat in my dining room table working of the final three months at 20 hours a week.  But I’m not competitive when it comes to wining, so I’m certainly not competitive when it comes to mistakes.

So to hear the things I heard last Friday from one of the General Manager’s, it’s alleviated some of the still present sting from last year.  Simple professional respect and an acknowledgement of abilities I believe I possess.

In the preface of one of the books a read a few years back, “how” by Dov Seidman he writes.  “Think about it.  If you make stronger connections and collaborate more intensely with your co-workers, you can win. … “The tapestry of human behavior is so diverse, so rich, and so global that it presents a rare opportunity, the opportunity to out behave the competition.” 

 Be different out behave your co-workers, take respect and professionalism to a whole new level. Regardless of where you are.

I will miss you shipyard, but you have restored my faith in respectful, accountable profesional business.

Categories
rant

mean people suck

I just watched this. Yes, start to finish and now my stomach is in my throat.

I’ve been trying to write a post for the last week about perception. But I keep getting confused and distracted.

From dictionary.com
1. the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
2. immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.
3. the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept.
4. Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.
5. Law. the taking into possession of rents, crops, profits, etc.

I think maybe I’m easily confused? I try to be fair and descent. I admit to an ornery streak from time to time. But I do think I am descent person with reasonably logical, rational ideas and thoughts.

My thought about this, Bill O’Reilly, is the problem. To be this mean, this disrespectful to another human being is Un-American. But that’s my perception.

A friend from my youth Tweeted yesterday that while listening to “Rush” (yes, I have a friend who listens to Rush) in the car his 10 year old son said, “why does the government want to raise taxes Dad? Don’t they have enough money?” I thought, well if the government hadn’t given that top 10% a big tax break maybe they wouldn’t need to change taxes. But the “perception” is that everyone will get hit. But I keep hearing someone say, “only the top 10%”. I must be making that up? More of that perception.

I had another thought recently as well. You know the noise about the media being liberal? The “liberal media”. The media does craft the message. They do decide what we see and hear. They see and hear everything. In college I had friends that interned during the Gulf War at stations in Kansas City. The public does NOT see all the news that’s fit to anything.

My thought is that the media is liberal because they see everything and they really know what is going on, they truly know corruption. But that’s my perception.

How many times have I listened to or watched a “liberal” news report take every point of a conservative report and disputes each point with facts. Fact’s either in writing or recorded tape. I’d try to upload those hear, but don’t think my little blog has the bandwidth.

I think Bill O’Reilly is straight up, no holds barred mean. I keep going back to the “visceral hatred” comment from another friend about George W. Bush. Visceral is a pretty harsh word, he must have mean friends. I didn’t agree with much that Bush did, but don’t think any of my comments could be labeled visceral? O’Reilly in the video above, visceral. But then that’s my perception.

I am entitled to my perception, but what does that mean in reality? I can read every paper. I can listen to every news sources, but am I reading someone’s perception of what happened? My Mom says, “Your perception is developed around your intelligence and experience, I think. If you make sure you view all sides of an issue, then make up your mind according to the best information you have, that’s the best you can do.” She also said, “Listening only to Rush, Cheney, and O’Reilly and now Glen Beck would sure screw up your perception.”

So can I get a show and yell and be mean to people who voice their perceptions, get paid lot’s of money and get that great tax break?

I don’t see how the meanness or hatred solves anything. Certainly has to raise someone’s blood pressure? What does it accomplish? What purpose does it serve? Some might say, it’s entertainment. I find nothing entertaining about most of what is reported today. And why is this acceptable? Yelling at someone, talking over them, not having a “conversation” to make your bogus point. Again, my perception.

Oops, shouldn’t have gone to Huffington Post, just read this post, Cupp, who is a contributor to the Washington Post and Politico, fumed:

“This is the enduring legacy of the Obama campaign. I’m not saying this to be inflammatory, I blame Barack Obama because he allowed his surrogates in the media and Hollywood and everyone else on the left to do this dirty talking for him.”

What? She gets paid to be a journalist and thinks like this? I’m done!