What is the Most Important Thing to Carry With You at All Times?

As contrived as it sounds, I carry my set of values with me. I was brought up by a strict mum who instilled her value of treating others as you want to be treated. I think that sends out a positive message to others from the start and, on balance, usually creates a more affable interaction with strangers.

 

Mind you, I’ve had periods in my life when a specific event has put a massive strain on commitment to this. I’m thinking back to the day me and over fifty others were made redundant by a (now defunct) biotechnology company. I was a manager in a R&D division and was attending a seminar on QA compliance (damn, it makes me yawn just to remember all that). My supervisor put her head around the door and announced I was needed elsewhere urgently. Elsewhere was the director’s office where he passed me redundancy cheque, said thank you and took my swipe card!

 

I promised myself there and then that I would never treat anyone so dispassionately and I’ve stuck to that since that day. So I always carry my core values with me, and try to make my interactions and conversations a pleasant experience all round.