Judgement Calls

What do you do or say, if anything, in each of these situations, and why?

1. A colleague, an amateur pilot, shows up at a critical meeting with some Japanese executives wearing a tie adorned with pictures of a P51D Mustang escorting a B-29 Superfortress (the Mustang is a World War II fighter and the Superfortress is the type of plane that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War II).

First I would assume he didn’t know how offensive this would be, so I would pull him to the side and explain to him the meaning behind planes and see if he is smart enough to make the determination on his own to remove his tie… If not, I would tell him he should remove his tie before starting the meeting because its disrespectful.

2. You know that you have only $110 left before you hit the limit on your credit card, and you have $8 in your wallet. You are the host to three clients. One has just announced that he is considering the lobster dinner for $40. The other two clients nod their heads.

If I ever found myself I would first try to point something else out on the menu for a cheaper price without giving myself away. I would try this method a few times and insist that they try the restaurants world famous tomato soup… If that doesn’t work, I would suck it up and pay for the order, knowing I would receive all kinds of fees. I would also order everyone water. This is a classic situation of you just need to be prepared.

3. While waiting outside a meeting room, you notice that the next middle manager making a presentation is rehearsing what he will say. The pants zipper of his blue suit is open and part of his white shirt is protruding.

I would march right up too him and ask if he was intending on making the speech with his zipper undone… If he says no, then I’ll tell him he’d better zip it up then. But honestly, I would tell him and try to make it into a joke to lighten the situation in what would probably be an uncomfortable situation.

4....