Think before you talk

Microsoft has two review periods during the year. The big one is at the end of the fiscal year and centers around performance. That determines things like bonus, raise, etc.

 

The other one is the Mid-Year Review which centers more on career development.

 

I’ve decided that the next step in my career development is a management position. There are a few reasons for this.

 

1. I like seeing how a group of individuals can achieve a proverbial sum greater than its parts. (The George Mason basketball team being the most recent example).
2. I’ve enjoyed the process in the past of mentoring others and helping them develop themselves
3. I think it will increase my appreciation of the challenges of business, the skills required for execution, and my market value both in and out of Microsoft

 

My manager does a great job of taking this process seriously and investing the effort to help me reach my goals.

 

It may come as a surprise to none of you that one of the focus areas that she outlined is in Interpersonal communications. Here is part of what she wrote:

 

I sometimes think Jeremy is so confident in his own abilities that he misreads situations and makes remarks that can be misunderstood.  This can reflect negatively on Jeremy if individuals don’t understand his sense of humor or interpret his remarks out of context.  As a point of coaching, I would ask Jeremy to think, talk, and then gauge for understanding in group settings.

 

Unfortunately, the other day, I ran into a situation where I was the victim of my own inability to think before I talk.  I won’t go into all of the details, but experience has taught me that experience is the best teacher.  It was yet another painful lesson in life with some potentially negative consequences.  I definitely could have handled it better, probably by confessing that I didn’t think before I spoke, but in a moment of panic, I sort of covered my tracks. Definitely not the best.

 

The theory in all of the self-help books and in my manager’s feedback are great. Fortunately or unfortunately, I do best when I make a blunder that hurts me emotionally and then integrate that lesson into my emotional DNA.