And the moral of the story is…

I just had the smackdown laid on me for using the phrase, “And the moral of the story is…” Now I can assume the dude is way better at English than I, or he doesn’t know what in the heck he is talking about. Typically, when it comes to English, I think everybody is smarter than I ( I mean me). Regardless of whether or not I was wrong the issue is that I don’t even know this dude. The first time we even exchanged pleasantries was after he slammed me, and called me Aesop. I didn’t like it, even if he was right. The thing I hated the most was not that he made the criticism in front of people, but that he left me without the knowledge that I needed to not make the same mistake again.

I have a pet peave when it comes to leaders.  If you see a problem, then refrain from making the criticism if you don’t have a solution. There is a difference between offering criticism and offering a solution.  We tempt people to be prideful when all we do is mention where they fall short. We inspire them to be different if we show them a way out.

So, now I’m pissed off because I don’t know what I should have said. Now I’m going to go find this guy and figure out what in the heck I should have said, and then let him know the next time he offers criticism in a public and even humiliating fashion he better have a solution. Otherwise, he comes out looking like the jerk instead of the wise man.