Smug Satisfaction

Smug Satisfaction

I don’t remember my grandmother ever saying you get more bees with honey than vinegar, but it’s a life lesson I learned early on. I think that’s the main reason I’m not a fighter unless it’s with a customer service representative (I see you Cablevision).

That’s not to say I am a doormat; there are some things that are just not worth fighting about. On any given day, I come up against that at work. It’s funny being a consultant. There are times when your worth is valued, because the client knows you have experience across multiple domains or a specialized skill set but there are other times when you are “just a consultant.” One of my friends experienced that on Valentine’s Day when the fulltime employees were gifted with large-size Hershey Bars and the onsite consultants were overlooked.

So, respecting those boundaries, I often limit how far I go in pushing back on ideas or policies and am willing to let things smooth themselves over before making a fuss. Recently, I submitted a series of ideas and nearly all were rejected on initial review. Submit them anyway, I’d said. This time I pushed back because I felt they were wrong but would have let it go if they disagreed. Every member of the team participated and the client reviewed them as a single pack.

Don’t you know, the ones they liked best were the ones I submitted?

At my college graduation, someone said to me one day you will have an idea. You will go into someone’s office and share it. They will tell you it’s stupid. It’s up to you to go back to your office and decide if they’re right.

You don’t have to fight; but you have to believe in yourself. The validation felt good, especially because every time the client slips from “valued partner” to “just a consultant,” there’s a little smug satisfaction that comes with demonstrating your worth.