One of my favorite career/business books is by Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” I like this book because I remembered one particular sentence that said, “people don’t care how well you do your job, or how much you know. They care about how you make them FEEL.” Wow! How true is that.
It made me think about two TV news anchors I came across in my life. The first was not that appealing on TV. She lacked confidence, couldn’t report live, and I just didn’t think she was that great. She did however have high ratings. I found out why once I met her. She was the most genuine, warm and friendly person I had ever met in the TV business. After that, I didn’t care how she delivered the news into my living room. I thought she was just GREAT. And one of her co-workers revealed that many viewers didn’t care for this anchor either until they met her. She was known for how she made people feel.
On the contrary, there was another news anchor who I thought was the absolutely most talented Broadcast Journalist I had ever seen in local news. I knew she was bound for the network. Great writer, had the look, delivery, everything. And she won lots of awards, did a ton of community service, etc. Only problem, it was all about her. Once I met her in person, I couldn’t believe what a self-centered ego maniac she turned out to be. In fact at her desk was a bunch of photos of famous people, and she was in every one of them. Worse, she was downright condescending to her co-workers and developed a reputation for being a drama queen. Ouch.
So no matter how well you do your job, always remember that people never forget how you make them feel. There’s no reason to be nasty to your co-workers. Someday they may have the opportunity to recommend you for a job, or they could also keep you unemployed. The choice is yours.