186 PowerPhrases in Action
named Wendy was at her desk in tears. When Mindy asked
what happened, Wendy responded, “What happened? I’ll tell
you what happened. Brenda is what happened. I came in $330
short of my goals and she told me in front of everyone at the
sales meeting that I’m incompetent and should get a job sack-
ing groceries. Mindy, I did my very best and I think I did a
good job. I don’t know how much longer I can work here.”
That’s when Mindy decided she needed to stand up for her
office. Mindy decided to address her nemesis.
Mindy didn’t just go barging into Brenda’s office and have
it out with her. Mindy did everything right. She went home and
practiced what she was going to say. She stayed up until the
small hours of the night, preparing her PowerPhrases.
When the morning came, Mindy thought she was prepared.
Then she looked down and saw that her socks didn’t match and
her top was not only on inside-out but backwards as well. There
was no time to fix anything—Brenda walked in. Mindy stood
a bit taller than usual to compensate for her fear and said,
Brenda, I need five minutes of your time to discuss an
issue. Is now a good time?Brenda’s eyebrows lifted and she said, “Yeah!”
When they got into the conference room, Brenda closed the
door behind her. Her eyes narrowed as she asked,
What’s up?Mindy responded,Brenda, the monthly sales meetings are creating prob-
lems. People are afraid of you when you reprimand