Being kind to those who can help you

Guy Kawasaki calls this "sucking down", but then admits there's really no such thing.

Sadly, it took me a long time to learn this simple lesson. My excuse? Not everyone is a genius in every respect, so forgive me for coming to wisdom late.

I suppose it began while I was doing consulting work (on the road), a few years ago. I was always out of town, but always in the same places, every week. All the time. I found that by treating well those whose job it was to serve me (hotel desk agents, waitpersons, airline and rental car agents, everyone), I magically found my experiences to be much better than average.

That hotel in Seattle where I stayed for weeks on end called me by name whenever I walked in. I don't have to tell you how much better that makes the experience. They know me! Wow. But, I also was very patient and relaxed with the hotel staff, no matter what happened or what went wrong.

Take the time the fire alarm went off at 2 AM, and everyone had to evacuate the building. Take the time the room I'd reserved simply wasn't available. No, don't get angry, don't get impatient. Take it all in stride. Take the smoking room for a night, if that's all there is. Let them off the hook. The next night they put me in a suite--no extra charge. Perhaps they would have done it regardless, but I was more than thankful they were taking care of me. And besides, my stress level was much, much lower.

The same applies to restaurants. Waiting tables is hard work. Try it sometime if you don't believe me. Encourage the waitperson (I don't know a better word, and I don't like waitron--sounds like a robotic machine). Make it easy for them to do a good job. Help them be better. Smile. Say thank you. Make eye contact. Tip very, very well. It's the least you can do, and it never goes wrong. Sometimes you still will have a bad experience, but at least you can say you didn't add to the problem by being an ass, yourself.

Who knows? Maybe there is such a thing as karma. It couldn't hurt, and it just might help.