Jay Strickland

I was recently in a meeting where I listened to one of the participants state that they would “try” to get something done within a specified period of time.  Another member challenged that to say, do you intend to do it or not?  If you do then don’t say “try” just say you’re going to “do” it and let that be your word.  At first I considered it to just be a difference of opinions about the wording of a statement.  In several conversations since that time though I’ve caught myself using the phrase “I’ll try to…..<whatever>” and realized that when I really intended to get something done I didn’t use the word try, but rather said that I would “do” whatever the task was at hand.  Consider that next time you tell someone that you’re going to “try” to do something.

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I think most people would agree that burning bridges is not in their best interest.  I would like to say that I’ve never burned a bridge (I’ve burned a few regrettably), but I do try hard to avoid doing so.  This past week I witnessed someone absolutely positively TORCH a bridge in a manner that I’ve never seen before (and hope to never again).  At WingSwept we have a very rigorous interview process designed to make sure that we get the “right people in the right seat” on the bus.  One potential candidate made it through all of the steps of the interview process only to be eliminated in his final interview.  We notified the candidate of the decision letting him know that we did not believe he would be a good fit for the position.  The conversation ended well and normally that would be the end of the dialog.  Shortly thereafter the candidate called one of our folks and left a voicemail that was “less than professional”.  Later the same day the candidate also reached out to one of our employee’s family members who was also considering him for a position.  In that thread of emails the candidate made personal insults to both of family members that were completely unwarranted. 

While its unfortunate that the situation ended this way it does prove that we made the “right decision” in not hiring the candidate.  It should also make the top ten list of things NOT to do when being told that you’re not getting a job.

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