The Benefit of My Experience

After working and being in my own business for 25 years I’ve learned a few things and am starting to feel comfortable sharing them with others. I am enjoying seeing things that others don’t see and am seeing that experience is a great teacher. So far, the reactions are mixed…

1. At an Emerson College entrepreneurship showcase I met a student who was developing a company where his focus was developing a certain talent in the Boston area. His company name started with Far East. I approached him, complimented him on his business plan and asked him why Far East and he explained to me that Boston was Far East of New York and that was his angle. I tried unsuccessfully to convince him that Far East to me and many other meant Asia and nobody other than he considered Boston “Far East” of New York. I wished him luck.

2. I received a resume from an ad I put on Craigslist and found a number of typos and spelling errors in an otherwise good resume. I thought I’d be helpful and let him know of the errors so that it would help him secure another job. Instead of being appreciative, he got angry, asked me what right I had and who I thought I was. I was just trying to help.

3. I have a new vendor who I really like, a husband-wife team. They have done a good job for me but I saw the need for improvement in one area of their company and wrote an email explaining what I thought of their service, where it exceeded expectations and where the opportunity was. At midnight last night, I got a heart-felt thank you email in return acknowledging my comments with appreciation. I really appreciated and enjoyed that.

I think I am learning how to use my experience to benefit others in addition to helping grow and lead TeamBonding. It has helped me choose the right programs to offer, the right facilitators to work with and lead the way in what our clients want from a team building company. I have never been able to explain how I can see early what others fail to appreciate and the one thing that I can’t teach, is experience.