Blog Post: New (Mis)Adventures in Manners

Picture this...

You are in a nice restaurant for lunch.  You're meeting someone for the first time and you want to make a very good first impression. After scanning the menu you find something that looks delicious and which you know won't make a mess when you are eating. 

After all, you do want to impress the person, don't you?

Your lunch parter orders his/her lunch and you both settle back and start talking.

The waitperson brings over a breadbasket and sets it on the table.  There's an incredible variety of breads and rolls, and they all look absolutely delicious.  Within seconds, the fragrance of fresh bread engulfs your table and you can feel your mouth start watering.

Mmmmm, you hardly wait for the first bite.

But, again, you want to make that important first impression a positive one, so you don't grab the basket and take the best for yourself.

What happens next shocks you and makes you really wish that you had done just that!

Your lunch partner picks up the basket, but instead of offering it to you, proceeds to pick through the different rolls and buns, picking up several, turning them over and even taking a quick sniff of a few. The rejects are placed back in the basket

I bet you think this couldn't possibly happen, don't you?

Well, guess what?  It happended to me last week. I immediately lost my appetite. Both for the bread and for working with the person.

Be sure that you don't make any similar mistakes when you are meeting with a prospective employer.  Because, like me, they may lose their appetite for working with you.

Sylva

Sylva Leduc, MEd, MPEC
Executive Coach & Leadership Strategist

Coauthor, Roadmap to Success
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www.SageLeaders.com