If you treat me like an option, I’ll leave you like a choice.
If you treat me like an option, I’ll leave you like a choice.
Do you know your self worth?
Are you certain of that?
I read this aphorism and smiled. Not because it is so profound, but because I could totally relate. I cannot say that this is the wisest of methodologies in life, but I can say that it seems to reflect the way I carry myself in my personal relationships as well as my professional ones.
When another party, personal or professional, gives you a cause to feel as if you are sort of, mostly kind of worthy of their due consideration, how does it make you feel?
For me, I recognize that my ego kicks in and when it does, the almost immediate result is that I leave. You are what you project, whether you wish for that to be so, or not. It is the truth.
If you have core value, you must know it in your heart and you must never let another take that away. Making certain that they are aware of your value is an imperative task, but it is very subtle, and the least mistake ruins the entire opportunity.
If you come on too strong, your ego is exposed for the insecure, ugly beast that it may come across as being. Rather, if you defer to humility, and find gentle, casual ways of making the important points known, then the other party becomes fully aware of with whom they are dealing, and as such, have the opportunity to make an informed decision.
Once the other party is armed with the proper information, they will signal their true feelings towards how they are most likely to navigate their options. If you are marginalized as just one of many options, you may choose to hang around in case your lottery number is drawn in their decision process, or you can take the power in the situation and extricate yourself, and leave them one less option.
I can make a strong argument as to how each of those choices is a wise one. So I do not profess that my methodology is the correct option for you. But it most certainly has been the way I conduct my own life. I was chatting with a buddy who is in the online dating circus and explaining the scenario he was going through with a potential date. By the time he explained the situation, I had long since earlier in his explanation thought to myself, “I would have said good bye much sooner, and wished her the best in life and moved on.” Was my choice the right one? Not necessarily for him, but it would be for me. That’s why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors, there are not always the same options for every one.
In business, I look at it the same way. I know the strength of my team, our combined and collected experience encompasses decades worth of high level accomplishments, baptized in fire, for the hardest of clients on the world stage. When I encounter a client who is working their way through countless vendors, offering to let us know when or if they will make up their mind, I politely withdraw us from their consideration and wish them the greatest of successes. I never participate in RFPs (Request For Prostitution) as I see them as a massive waste of time. If our collective expertise does not convince you that we are the best for your project, nothing further that I will write in an RFP is going to make a difference, and they are only asking for our valuable ideas upfront as a means of presumably making a choice between vendors.
So let me make it for you. Hire the other company. We will be cheering your success when it comes to fruition for you. (If it does).
Know your self worth. Never let any person or any company marginalize that. Ever.
Happy Monday!
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