buzzblog

I’m not sure where the expression “It’s a dog-eat-dog world” originated but apparently humans don’t care that they are all for themselves, and will literally take down anyone who stands in their way. It seems unfair to blame dogs for bad human behavior.

Here are some other expressions in which dogs take the heat:

Dog tired (What happens after a long day of work or a long night of karaoke)

My dogs are barking (In some circles, dogs mean feet and barking means yelling. Why not just say my feet hurt?)
Doggy style (Ok that’s actually not so bad.)
Dawg! (Thank you Randy Jackson.)
Dog gone it (A derivative of dag nab it, which in turn is a derivative of gosh darn it. Oh heck I haven’t got a clue.)
Hot Dog! (actually a good thing)
Hot dog (actually not at all a good thing)
He’s a dog (he’s not a nice person)
She’s a dog (she’s not a nice looking person. Typical.)
And the ever popular…
She’s a real b***h (Did you read my recent blog? She must be The Boss.)

But I’m the boss … so it’s all good.
I am pretty comfortable being bossy. I am not afraid of responsibility… the buck has been stopping at my desk for years. I can easily delegate and serve my staff, clients and vendors direction…with a ton of free opinion on the side. Maybe I’m irritating to some and a task master to others but (ahhh the chains of leadership!) somebody has to be the strongest link.

The only place being bossy doesn’t work well is at home with the husband and son. They do not like or want to know my opinions or take direction (imagine that). Over the years, I’ve learned to curb my bossy nature somewhat, if only in the interest of keeping the peace.

When I was younger I didn’t revel in being considered bossy. I saw it as a negative and even occasionally felt angered by the label. Today I have finally learned to be at peace with my qualities … and I further realize that not all people are even able to be bossy. For some, to give direction, make snap judgments and take control literally brings distress … so for those people, being bossy truly is a negative.

I have been called aggressive … but I think I am only assertive … which is a way nicer word somehow. I have been labeled “liberated” which makes me wonder what I have been liberated from. Likely it is my gender and the fact that I own a business by myself (imagine that!) that commands the label. Actually I am a very “traditional” person in my home life. After all my husband, son and I all boast the same last name.

Once I was actually called pushy … but I prefer to say “persuasive”. Now I ask you, doesn’t that sound like a skill as opposed to a social disease? I remember being in 4th grade and one time in the school yard at lunch a classmate yelled at me to mind my own business … and that’s literally what this boss always tries to do. *smiles*

Some of my favorite Bossy Expressions:
I’m not bossy … I’m just right
I’m not bossy, I just have better ideas
You’re no one until someone calls you bossy
I’m not bossy. I just know what you should be doing

My Chair Please

You don’t have to love me, you don’t have to like me … but you will respect me

I don’t have an attitude problem, I have an attitude that you have a problem with

The Original Gale Girls from left to right Debbie, Cindy, Carol & Janet

I have always had the ability to see “the big picture” and it has saved me many times in my business life.   I can visualize the finished product, plot out the pathway to that finish line and can organize the team to make it happen.

I first learned of this ability when I was in the 6^th grade.  Mrs. Bodine, our young and enthusiastic music teacher, decided to organize a talent show at school.  She encouraged all of us to recruit our talents and abilities and come back to her with an idea.  I was certain I could come up with something and set off for home that day to recruit my 3 younger sisters into being in a quartet with me.  We had never sung in public although we had done plenty of singing in the car, but I found that to be of no concern.

I posed the idea to my sisters that evening and the two youngest were excited and agreeable.  My second sister was going to be the hold out … and hold out she did.  She was a shy girl, not the least bit interested in singing in public, and not at all concerned about disappointing the rest of us.  I learned at this time that I was a pretty good sales person as I recruited my parents to help fight for the cause. Success!  By the next week when music class came around, once again I announced that I would be bringing the equivalent of The Lennon Sisters … that my sisters and I were an awesome quartet and we would be singing in the talent show. The year was 1963.

I returned home that afternoon with the happy news of our new found opportunity and got my mother started on our wardrobe.  She immediately engaged her sewing machine and set off to make colorful jumpers that would flatter each of her daughter’s hair and coloring while complimenting each other. We all had white blouses and tights.

Back at school, Mrs Bodine was plowing through sheet music and selected two tunes for a suitable medley.  She called us to an after school rehearsal and after working with us for what seemed to be hours … told us that we must practice at home.  Much to the dismay of my second sister I gathered the girls everyday for  rehearsal.  We had fittings with my mother in the upstairs sewing room and weeks later we were primped and primed to amaze our school.

Yes. That spring the Gale Girls made their debut at Noah Webster’s 3^rd floor auditorium dressed in matching jumpers and coiffed in flowing curls.  With the accompaniment of Mrs. Bodine at the piano, our sweet young voices performed her arrangement of “Side by Side” and “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”.  We were adorable. My second sister pinched me back stage and continues to chide me to this day for the embarrassment of it all but I was happy enough that I made it happen when we took our bows

This is me, even from a young age. Seeing the end…organizing my team…getting it done.  Always and happily performing.

There are two types of coffee drinkers in my world, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts … and both are fiercely brand loyal.  In my youth, I loved Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, and as a doughnut finisher one summer in the local Dunkin’ Donut shop, I learned a great deal about grinding coffee beans and making a good cup of coffee.  I admit it. I have the addiction and no morning is complete without a cup of coffee.

Today I am a Starbucks fan, but my younger sister remains faithful to Dunkin’ Donuts.  She thinks Starbucks is too strong. I think Dunkin’ Donuts is not strong enough … but for me it is as much about the smell as the taste, and I am not one for any calorie added foam or shots, even if it is skinny … just give me the coffee.

I am brand loyal, but only because I cannot find a cheaper, competitive product that tastes even close to Starbucks. I buy the large bag of beans at Sam’s Club and grind it.  Thankfully, my husband is also a fan and we enjoy our morning coffee ritual.  When I travel, I look for a hotel property with a nearby Starbucks … or even better, one in the lobby.

Meanwhile, at my sister’s house … she is bribing her 4 year old with doughnut holes if she will behave, but I know better … she wants that afternoon coffee lift.

These companies are taking the competition to new levels.  Dunkin’ Donuts even has a site and campaign “Friends don’t let friends drink Starbucks” complete with t-shirts and mugs promoting the fact that in a nationwide taste test Dunkin’ beat Starbucks by a few points … yeah, yeah.

It is great to see the advertising wars and understand the gorilla marketing of it all and how creative companies can get over something so consumable … I would love to see the data on what kind of lift Dunkin’ saw on this … while I am drinking my morning Starbucks.

“I never worked a day in my life, I enjoy everything I do and so … consider it play!” My father told me this more times that I can remember … and I always thought he was just a little bit too optimistic.  Lately I find I have taken this quote and made it my own.  I live by it. (Don’t you just hate it when your parents turn out to be right?)  I never work … because nothing I do I consider to be labor … it’s all fun.  What is work … is it one’s life, or ones task list … or maybe it’s the actions you are directed to do.  I believe you can still look at everything you do in life as play and therefore not only enjoy it, but do it very well.

Work is defined as exertion, direction to produce or accomplish … I can’t say I exert or am directed to produce. I look at my profession as collaboration between my clients, my team and myself. It’s an opportunity to partner up and create excellence. Now I ask you … how can that be work?

Even my yoga class … which I love and cherish … is called practice, not work.  In yoga I find a great opportunity to clear my brain, stimulate my body inside and out and prepare myself for creativity, which is awesome.  It’s true, I am exerting, perspiring and concentrating hard … but I am not working. I feel energized and I leave the room ready to take on the day.  Each time I write an email, proof copy, creative direct an ad or hold a brainstorming meeting … I savor every minute. I anticipate the next stage, the response from the client … and ultimately the final product.  It’s all big fun if your head is in the right frame to accept that everything you do can be fun, and the more simple the task, the more perfectly you can do it.

So here is my advice for all my friends and colleagues … think of it as play … not work … and go get ‘em!

I feel so equipped with this device … it provides the weather report, time of day, alarm clock and phone I use every day. I make calls, send email, Google words and concepts and scan QR codes … and I take photos, keep a calendar and grocery list, read the news, tweet and even have a flashlight and that’s not all … now I can even pay for my morning coffee with it.

I am continually amazed at the applications that are being created around this technology and I hope one day to eliminate the use of a pocketbook all together. As soon as this thing can apply lipstick – I’m there. And how about eliminating these rewards cards that are dangling from my key ring? And while you are at it, eliminate the car key too. I would love to open and lock my car with my phone, pay for my groceries and get my valued reward points, flash my membership at the gym, open my office and buy gasoline with my Smartphone. I believe in my heart it’s coming … virtual keys, reward cards, credit cards and driver’s license … I can see a way smaller pocketbook now.

The one thing that is a down side is that out in public no one is making eye contact any longer … they are all making Smartphone contact. All the folks in line at Starbucks are texting, reading and scanning … in the grocery store folks are chatting with someone miles away about the price of coffee, or what to have as a side for dinner … lots of personal information, arguments and chit chat that I would rather not be subject to. I see teenagers who literally have the phone attached to their ear for hours at a time and I wonder … how long will that battery last while they are in the phone zone. So maybe it is true that we will become less social in the real world … but oh my … how social we are in the virtual world … on Face book I have to hear how many miles my friend walked, what the weather is in Detroit, what song my niece remembers a year ago on a trip and other ridiculously inane information that I could totally live without. But my Smartphone … how did I ever live without it?

Like my son says … “Ma, it’s not a phone, it’s a computer that has phone”