I always have the belief that I try to treat people the way that I wanted to be treated. However, when someone stabs me in the back, all bets are off. So anyone who maybe had a problem with me when I worked with him probably wasn’t nice to me when they should have (sorry, Norma).

A few weeks back, I talked with someone I worked with at a law firm many years ago and he brought up a partner who broke away and started his own practice. 19 years later, I still remember how that partner wasn’t nice and he was really a bully when there really was no need to be that way. The person I talked to agreed with me and I think the point is that when you’re nasty to people and fellow employees, people will remember you.

Just this past week, I was talking to another attorney about an attorney who taught me in law school. I said that I’m really still peeved at this well respected attorney because 15 years ago, I sent him an email asking for employment suggestions and to this day, I’ve never heard back. This attorney told me how this well respected attorney messed up a great referral opportunity by accusing one of the plan providers of malfeasance when there was none.

Your reputation means everything and when you carry yourself off as someone who has no care for people and are just rude for no reason, people are going to remember you. You develop a reputation that isn’t very good and in this business, your bad reputation will follow you and lose some of the luster you thought you have as a plan provider.