Many of us in Sales would remember and practice the Columbo close “Before I go, just one more thing….” (then we would go ahead with a Summary close, with one foot still in the prospect’s door).
With two years, and 555 blogs, I thought I was done with it. But then, just one more thing…..
Peter Falk knew about personal branding long before there was Facebook and LinkedIn.
He figured, to make it in an image-driven world, (w/ right eye removed at an early age) he would have to:
A. work harder (in this case, asking one more question)
B. work Last Impressions while others focused on First Impressions (beat-up raincoat, Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall).
C. work from his strengths e.g. M.A. in Efficiency, government job experience – both used his analytic skills to “lock-in” his signature role as Ltd Columbo (much like Alda in M*A*S*H).
In that vein, I want to continue the ride, “still against the wind.”
When I tried out for Vietnam‘s prestigious high-school, I failed, because of all things, my Vietnamese language (I finished French Elementary, not Vietnamese). But I did get in the year after.
Then I tried out for the high-school band. Luckily, I nailed the audition: they were playing California Dreaming, Don’t Let Me Down etc… right up my “foreign-language” alley.
Even today, tourists in Asia can still find bands that play 70’s music, even when band members couldn’t converse well in English. They just listened and repeated after the tape.
Then, I got thrown out of a long line in front of the US Embassy (a week before the last day of the War). They were worried that a long line would give away the impending doom.
But I am here now, and even got back to Vietnam, walked in that same embassy to have my M.A. degree notarize (after local, State and DOS steps). It was requirement for work permit.
Oh, just one more thing.
The professor of Journalism 101 said I would never make it (with manual typewriter? grammar? or make it in Liberal Arts?) So I packed my bag, and went to Hanoi at the beginning of the Great Recession, and passed the Cambridge English Teaching Award exam.
Just one more thing. I have worked at Fortune 500 companies for 15 years, driving beat-up cars (but won 2 brand new ones to pay off my student loan) albeit without the raincoat, and pulling a Columbo every so often.
How is that for someone who couldn’t pass Jr high entrance exam in Vietnamese.
On second thought, maybe I can inspire those who have always got nice cars, nice houses, speak fluent and perfect English with library full of books hardly touched.
Now, they just want to rob the bank, not to get away with money, but to be put in jail for medical coverage.
Please don’t. Just work on your strengths. Peter Falk (and for that matter, Danny DeVito) rise to fame not on their eye or height. They differentiated, focused on core strengths, and charm the audience not without empathy and a sense of humor.
Maybe my strengths lie in the fact that I don’t give up or forget easily.
Most of my failures have been put to use, as stepping stones.
In short, my next company and job will benefit greatly because my former employers and I have paid a high price for my ” professional profile” It’s up to me to never repeat the same mistake twice. And that, I don’t forget easily. Before you dismiss me with a HR’s cold “Next”, let me recap by saying, “just one more thing”: was it my leadership talent? or my persistence? or my ability to work well with others – that you fail to register? Like in any closing situation, I “SHUT UP”. Wish I had that trench coat on.
Thang Nguyen 555 