Rudeness

Posted by John Livesay in blog0 comments

Rudeness rules the day. … Or does it?

Most of us were taught from a young age that being rude is unacceptable behavior. 

Children are normally taught to say please and thank you and to not cut the line but instead wait their turn. They also learn that asking somebody how old they are, how much they weigh, or how much money they make is also considered rude.

In fact, from cutting people off in traffic to interrupting people, any behavior that could be considered pushy is often considered rude.

But I’ve observed that now that people have been living through the pandemic and the mask requirements and social distancing, the extra stress has caused people to be a little more self obsessed than normal. This can also manifest by being easily triggered or easily insulted.

If you’re in sales, and my premise is that everyone is in sales (whether it is your job title or not!), we have to sell ourselves all the time. All of us need to have a very high EQ to not be rude if someone is rude to us.

The old way of selling is ABC: Always Be Closing. Many salespeople feel pushy because of the pressure to convince people to buy now!

Let’s change this acronym to ABK: Always Be Kind. Starting with the way you talk to yourself! Are you being rude to yourself with negative self-talk?

As a storytelling sales keynote speaker, I talk to sales teams about how to use stories to win sales. Stories can also help you!

If someone is rude to you, use the 5-5-5 method. Ask yourself, Will this matter in five minutes or five hours or even five days from now?

You can choose to let rudeness from others go in five minutes rather than hanging onto it.

In some ways, when someone is rude to you, it can feel like a slap to the face. Research shows that emotional pain is in the same place as physical pain in our brain… they both hurt equally!

The next time someone is rude to you, or you are rude to yourself with your negative critical voice, take a breath and remember you’re the movie director of your own life.

You decide how you want the story to go. We are all the movie directors of our own lives. And we can yell Cut! at any time.

Just because other people are being rude doesn’t mean you have to follow that trend. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”