Mind your own business
By Carolyn Wilson
August 28, 2008
When an individual hands you their business card you can expect the
usual information- name, title, multiple phone numbers, e-mail, company,
logo and possibly a short catch phrase or motto.
At network events it is all about working the room to trade these paper
monikers to make new contacts discover fresh resources and develop
professional relationships. The cards do not define who we are; they
simply provide a skeleton identification of what we do. This sets up a
question. What would happen if we lived in a society where you had to
keep an inventory of cards to chat with people on a personal level?
Let’s play around with that idea for a minute. Would your card stock be a
reflection of your true characteristics or would you hide behind generic fluff
to play it safe depending on the circumstances?
For instance, if someone was meeting their fiancés parents for the first time
it could be very risky to hand them a personality card stating they are a
wandering care free spirit with a commitment phobia. Imagine a first
grader showing up on the first day of school brought by a parent who tells
the teacher their angel has never given them any trouble but the cards in
their back pack reveal them to be a spoiled and selfish whiner.
Or what if our cards provided up to the minute mood transitions without
having to share the reason? If we are having a bad day and someone
approaches we could present a card that reads ‘stay away’. No interest in
being nice today.
On the other hand if we are in an exceptionally good mood we could flash a
card that says, I’m on top of the world, come join me. Here’s a concern. If
you showed someone a card that said Mind your own business, should
they take that as an insult or good advice as one entrepreneur to another.
Hmm. Actually a personality card is not such a good idea after all.
