Lesson of the day

I'm a happy-go-lucky gal but at work I can be pretty tough. I try to be reasonable but never cruel. I never take things personally or deliver messages in an unkind way. I try to keep a sense of humor about myself and what I do for a living, after all, we're not curing cancer. On the other hand, I don't have a lot of patience for the overly pushy or ambitious. I figure those types need to sit down, be quiet and take notes. Unfortunately, many of the youngins coming out of college these days possess an inappropriate level of confidence that sometimes needs to be knocked down a notch or two.

Case in point: Right before I left work today I received a very bossy email from a stranger named Jordan. I happen to be very good friends with Jordan's VP and was surprised to get such an annoying email from somebody in his division. In short, Jordon told me I had to approve something because "we feel" it needs to happen. Now, to be clear, whenever I see the words "we feel", or even worse "I feel", I pretty much hit delete. If there is one thing I'm VERY good at, it's protecting my company's brand and approving only that which is appropriate for said brand. I don't take direction well from those who don't respect my brand. Jordan is new. Jordan does not respect my brand.

I wrote Jordan back and explained that the reason we have a review process is so we can tweak concepts until they are just right. When he makes our required change, we will approve his concept. Until that time it is NOT approved and he may NOT move forward.

I didn't have the energy to take Jordan to school so I emailed my friend, Jordan's VP, and asked "Who is Jordan? Do you want to explain things to him or should I?" About 2 minutes later I received the VP's reply "I'll take care of it." Now, I hate to be a narc, but I don't happen to know any Jordan's over the age of 25 (I'm sure they exist but I don't know any) and I'm not about to take direction from one, especially when I have a contract stating I'm in the right.

Tomorrow, somewhere on the East Coast a kid named Jordan will likely wet his pants.

Mean? Maybe. Lesson: Be careful who you lecture, they may know your boss.