Turning aside from the depressing Annual Report and Accounts of Kiddy-Fiddlers-For-Jesus (Rome) Inc., let us get back to business.
A surprising number of these seem to come from Texas, by the way, home of G. W. Bush, the great statesman, practitioner of random capital punishment and the “let’s start another war and make my friends rich” approach to managing world affairs.
Why is that? Is misrepresentation a Texan speciality? It’s only a couple of weeks since I ran a seminar on a fundraising letter from a rogue who lives in Detroit, but sends his begging letters from an address in Texas
But I digress.
One seminar firm in particular provides me with a regular flow of chortles, as they seem to specialise in selling stuff to dithering executives in dysfunctional, ill-run organisations whose staff are (what a
surprise!) demotivated.They pump out a seemingly endless flow of advice whereby managers can either stop their staff giving them a hard time or, after they have failed, fire them without having to pay too much compensation.
However, the prize for invitation of the decade has to go to the subject line of one I got today: LAST CHANCE ! Women’s Leadership Series: Power of Assertive Communication – 4/8 Audio Conference.
I’ve been battered, bullied, hit over the head with a tape recorder, screamed at incessantly, subjected to day-long torrents of tears, had to walk to hospital with a bleeding artery and stabbed – twice. All women. How about the Power of Polite Invitation?
I thought it fitting that this arrived on the day that, allegedly, Christ rose from the dead, because one of the attempts at communication I mentioned left me literally within in an inch of my life and I only failed to bleed to death from another because I lived near St. George’s Hospital.
If it happened today I would be dead, because that hospital is now an absurdly overpriced hotel. Not an improvement.
Hell hath no fury like.
Drayton, two things:
1. You weren't referring to me in any of those personal anecdotes were you? Cause I know I've done a few of those things but haven't always kept track of to whom …
2. As a woman who was recently (and not for the first time) accused of being a member of the “feeble” sex. Yes, FEEBLE. I'm compelled to express my appreciation for your acknowledgement that women are quite capable of communicating in a variety of ways, including assertively. Now if we could just get certain men to stop attributing this phenomenon to our “hormonal instability” fewer gents might end up in the emergency room. Not saying you, Drayton, are guilty of this practice, just pointing out it's an all-too-regular occurence leading to extremes of verbal and physical violence.
Feeble my ass.
Check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBg9nEnKU0
I wonder what exactly they mean by assertive communication? And why on earth would there need to be a seminar “for women” about it? Rather sexist I think.
(Okay… is THAT assertive enough?)
Tell me, will there be a man or woman teaching this seminar? (Just wondering.) I think I would rather learn kick boxing. I already have a big enough mouth. Now I need something to back it up.