Undo! Undo!

     Question: What do you do when you realize you've just said something you instantly recognize as a poor choice of words, patently offensive, or maybe even against the law?

     Answer: Quality guru Tom Peters recalled in 1986 that Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Clearly that instrument is the world's deadliest assault weapon.

     Some people are patently offensive. Some can't seem to shut up. Others are more subtle, like that lady who advertises on TV for the oil industry. The first time you hear her, you have to sort your way through layers of schmooze to find out what she's talking about. (You have to hand it to her; she makes 'em sound like a bunch of saints, doesn't she?)

     But even the brightest of us eventually reveals who we are and what we think. If we talk too much, maybe we reveal more than we want to. A Greek Stoic philosopher named Epictetus once postulated that the reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so we can listen twice as much as we speak.

     There is no prerequisite for a leader as important as respecting one's followers. And people can read that in us —especially EMTs and paramedics. Why them? Because they read people for a living. Those with even just a few years' experience can detect our respect (or pretense) through a wall.

     If you honestly respect people, you're rarely going to say anything you want to take back. But none of us is perfect. When you say something that makes you think, "Undo! Undo!", all you have to do is say, "Excuse me, that was not appropriate." Then, rephrase your statement or question and try it again.

     Over time, a few people will expect you to be perfect. But that's their mistake. Most will accept the five percent of your work that you could have done better along with the 95% that was your level best, and realize how hard you tried to serve them.

     And if you're lucky, so will that person you keep seeing in the mirror.

     Thom Dick is the quality care coordinator for Platte Valley Ambulance Service, a community-owned, hospital-based 9-1-1 provider in Brighton, CO. Reach him at boxcar_414@yahoo.com.