Earbuds stop working in the middle of a run.
Coffee is spilled on your shirt minutes before a client meeting
The Wi-Fi signal inexplicably vanishes before you can hit the send button on a time-sensitive email.
The printer runs out of black ink as you’re putting together a final presentation.
The car battery dies at the most inopportune time.
A shipment gets “delayed” by the logistics company and a client event date is missed.
Bad things happen to everyone. Whether it results in a minor inconvenience or a major shift in plans, bad things can and will happen from time to time.
Even so, many take the little curveballs life throws at them personally. The guy texting on his phone while navigating Starbucks who bumped into you causing the triple, venti, half sweet, non-fat, caramel macchiato to spray all over your dress shirt? I guarantee you he didn’t do it on purpose. Of course it was avoidable, but the fact remains it was an accident and you were not intentionally targeted.
When things go south, taking it personally generally makes the situation worse, not better. Getting angry and venting at the kid who bumped into you won’t remove the macchiato stain in time for the meeting. It will, however, cause your blood pressure to skyrocket and likely throw off your game.
Next time an order takes a turn for the worse, it won’t fix the situation by blowing your stack at the customer service representative. Instead, work collaboratively with the supplier to not only solve the issue, but to also brainstorm what can be done differently going forward to prevent the problem from resurfacing. By responding in the spirit of cooperation rather than blame, there is a much greater chance of eliminating the hurdle going forward.
Bad things happen. Looking at misfortune as a personal affront to you or your business will do little more than slowly create an ulcer. Realize that when bad things happen, it’s not about you; it’s simply part of life. Respond accordingly.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 17 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. In 2014, he launched brandivate – the first executive outsourcing company solely focused on helping small and medium sized-promotional products enterprises responsibly grow their business. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, developing operational policies and procedures, creating and developing winning RFP responses, and presenting winning promotional products solutions to Fortune 500 clients. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.