220 Put Y0ur Best Self Forward with PowerPhrases
wanted me to take more of a “leadership” role and help lead the
company in the areas of my expertise.
A portion of my job is financial and a week before my
review I had completed a four-month process of redeveloping
our financial model and constructing our budget for 2003.
When I presented him the completed budget, I expected him
to be pleased that I resolved the discrepancies and completed it
on time. He quickly noted some small items that I hadn’t mod-
ified for the forthcoming year and began to pick apart my
report, explaining to me that leadership meant presenting to
him an “error free” report.
I explained during my review that I realized I had made
mistakes and took responsibility for them. I assured him that I
wouldn’t make those mistakes again. I also mentioned that he
knew that I had worked very hard on the project, and that I was
expecting him to to be pleased because it was complete. I said
that I was taken aback by his remarks on my errors.
He said (very sincerely), “Y’know, you’re absolutely right. I
am sorry. You did work long and hard on that project and did
complete it on time. Thank you.”
I sat there graciously receiving his compliment, but inside I
was stunned that what I said had the impact it did.
PowerPhrases to Gain Respect
Dear Meryl: When I first started with my company, I was work-
ing on recruitment. I was extremely sick and took a lot of time
off during the first six months. Many administrative assistants
didn’t respect the fact that I needed to take so much time off
from work and had a real attitude toward me.