What others think of us

Most management consultants make me think of WB Yeats’ bitingly cynical line:

- IT CAME TO MIND | MANISH NANDY

The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.They swear full-throated allegiance to some newfangled management nostrum and brook little skepticism.

Dwight is a remarkable exception. Like me in the past, he teaches part-time in a university but expends most of his day in a consulting practice. We were talking about the easy popularity of some people while many of us must strain to earn others’ approbation. Dwight offered a striking example.

“A doctor in his daily work” he said, “helps other people to feel better, maybe remove their pain. He should be naturally very popular. We know well that is not so. Some are adored and admired. Some others are moderately liked. But some are less liked or even disliked.

“The real difference is how they treat people. Not just doctors. All of us, whether teachers, clerks or salesmen, have to deal with other people. And those other people quickly make up their minds about what they think of us.