Every now and then I get on a mantra kick. My last big one was “I’m on it” and I did a blog series about hiring On It People. People that make stuff happen. Today a new mantra popped into my head: “Make it stop.”
Have you ever been part of a discussion that was so mind-numbingly tedious or illogical it caused you to draw in your breath and beg the universe to MAKE IT STOP?
This happens a lot in the DMV, or on customer service calls, where people invoke and cling to policies that don’t make sense. Often there’s a simple answer, but they just keep returning to the same maddening script. It sucks, plus it’s exasperating, because you ultimately have to become the jerk and ask to speak to their supervisor.
Can the supervisor make it stop? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Think about what happens when you get someone truly gifted, who can deliver you from foolishness (that’s ‘tonteria’ in Spanish), erase all the frustration and rage, even give you something for your suffering. Isn’t that the best?! Talking to the right person makes all the difference!
Are you in the middle of any Make it Stop situations at work? With clients or team members? Who’s the right person to talk to? The supervisor that will smooth everything over and make it all OK? What would they do and say? Now… Grasshopper… could you be that person?
Make it Stop practitioners get ahead. People listen to them. They seek them out because they know the Right Thing to Do. They take accountability. They get stuff done. They appreciate the value of a satisfied customer and enduring relationships.
The next time you find yourself in a infuriating, we’re going in circles situation, look at it as an opportunity to practice being a Make it Stop person. Detach yourself from the emotion and circumstance, have an outer body experience, gain some perspective and become the Make it Stopper. Do this again and again, more and more often and you will float up the ranks because people will seek out your leadership and good judgment. Go on, you have the power and the world needs more people like you.
