The Man with Many Hats?



Courtesay of Google Image

Have you ever counted the number of “hats” you have to wear in one day (metaphorically speaking)? I’m going to exaggerate a bit here but this is my list:

• Husband
• Father (split to two: Father to a 5 year-old girl and newborn boy)
• Nice and courteous driver
• Employee (split to multiple: A worker, colleague, manager, relationship builder, service provider, “firefighter”, negotiator, etc.)
• Child
• Sibling (a brother and a sister)
• Neighbour
• Role model
• Sports fan
• Friend
• Etc.

Sounds familiar? It should because most of you wear these “hats” on regular basis without thinking twice about it. So is it surprising that some people may forget which hat they are wearing from time to time?

Fortunately, I’ve been very successful at keeping my professional life separate from my personal life… quiet simply, the two never mix.

However, I had a sobering wake up call on Friday when I was told by my 18 year-old sister that I should stop treating her like a colleague and more like a sibling. More surprisingly, this was confirmed by my wife.

Apparently, I’ve been trying to use business-like reasoning when trying to prove a point with family and friends. For instance, I’ve been quoted as saying, “there’s no problem if no solution can be put forward to tackle the issue at hand”. On its own and in a business setting, this point makes sense, however, trying to ask a teenager (albeit my sister) to come up with a solution during a family gathering may be a bit too much. Can you imagine the look of disappointment on my sister face when I asked her that question? Clearly, I did not imagine it before asking it.

Looking back at it, it’s kind of funny how I had totally missed on this point altogether (can’t and should not treat family like business partners), however, I’m sure it’s something that many of us have faced before (am I wrong on this assumption?).

I wish you success with whatever “hat” you’re wearing; I just hope you’re lucky enough to have someone to let you know that you’re wearing the wrong one.

Thank you for reading,

Armin

PS. I sent a message via BlackBerry Messenger to my sister and apologized to her and let her know I was truly very sorry for what happened.