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Subject:Re: Getting Respect From:mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM Date:Wed, 7 Sep 1994 10:42:07 EDT
Kelly Hoffman writes:
>Quite simply: Respect is something that you have to earn. I think the
>hard part for tech writers is that we so often have to overcome the
>bad taste left by predecessors. This means that, on the respect
>scale, we're not starting at zero, but at some negative number.
This can also work for you. My first position here was replacing someone
who had created _very_ low expectations. As a result, if I did anything
more than cut and paste from the design specs, everyone was amazed and awed.
Sure, I started at a negative number, but the contrast between my work and
the previous work was quickly clear, and I got more respect than I would
have if they'd learned to take competency for granted. I think it ended up
being a bonus for me, rather than a liability.
Take care,
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf, not IBM's
