Thought of the Day 03.26.10

I went to get my cell phone replaced the other day, expecting to take advantage of the deal I had been offered previously. However, the woman who took care of me informed me that the other guy had been mistaken and that deal wasn’t actually available. She said she was sorry for the mix-up and that I was free to speak with her manager if I wanted. I could tell from her tone that she would have loved to give me the deal, but it wasn’t within her power.

So I did speak with the manager, and after explaining the events to him, he gave me what I wanted. This of course made me happy, and the manager got to enjoy satisfying a customer. But this seems unfair, right? She knew what needed to happen, and she didn’t get to enjoy helping me at all. Because of her position, she actually had to sort of be the bad guy.

But you see, that’s the basic nature of authority. To acquire the power to make people happy, you have to show that you won’t use that power foolishly. So the key is to use what you have as well as possible and not resent the greater good you think you could do with more. And sometimes a person who grasps this will thank you anyway for doing what you could.