Message of the Day - Using the Wrong Label

Good Morning,

 

On Saturday, my brother-in-law, Keith, and I stopped by a Chinese Buffet for lunch. During our meal we perused the food in the buffet and then we saw it. The bin was full of French fries, or so we thought until we saw the label over the bin. These crispy golden fries turned out to be something else. The label said 'Frogs Legs'. I looked more closely at the oddly shaped and colored frog's legs and wondered.  

 

Okay, they were fries and the sign was wrong, but isn't this something we all do from time to time in our day to day lives. We put up the wrong label. We show ourselves to be one thing, when in fact we are something else. We say are are doing one thing, when in fact, we are doing something else.

 

For example:

 

  -When we are upset, but say we are happy.

 

  -When we are being told something and we are asked if we understand and we nod even though we are less than certain of what is being asked of us.

 

  -When we agree to do something knowing full well that our chances of completing it are not the best.

 

  -When we update our resume after learning some new skill or software, do we list that new skill as something we are proficient or even an expert in when it is not quite the truth? 

 

These labels we send out to others offering frogs legs when we are giving French fries can cause some issues and challenges for us down the road.

 

 

For example, with using a wrong label:

 

  -Our integrity is questioned. When someone asks us to do something they may ask knowing full well that we are probably not going to do it, and eventually stop asking.

 

  -Our capability is questioned. We are given all sorts of training which we say we understand, but time after time, we fail to perform in our tasks as if we had never understood the training.

 

  -Our stability is questioned. We are seen as being unstable, with our hearts on our sleeves, and ready to erupt at any time in any place for any reason. We may say we are alright, but deep down, we know we aren't, but worse those around us know it also.

 

  -Our honesty is questioned. When we misrepresent ourselves by saying we are able to do what we cannot, or we know what we do not, those we interact with learn to distrust us.

 

 

These are just the tip of the iceberg of challenges caused by having the wrong label. Honest is the best policy. And as such when I mentioned the label to the restaurant staff, they smiled meekly and removed the label. Luckily most people know what French fries are supposed to look like.

 

Lets wear the right label and be who we say we are, and do what we say we can do.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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