"DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE" IS NOT ROLE CLARITY

I’m sitting in a trendy restaurant, margarita in hand, chips and salsa on the table; with a group of entrepreneurs. One is telling us that her business has grown and they are hiring new people and are therefore; working on their employee handbook. She says, “Don’t be an asshole, pretty much covers it.” I cringe. It was not the time or place for me to challenge her, she is not my client. I’m here to be polite and social. But my mind runs ahead anyway; 

·     What does that mean?

·     How does a non-asshole 

·     Behave?

·     Think?

·     Treat your customer?

·     Do their work?

·     Treat their boss?

·     Make decisions?

·     What does the non-asshole

·     Care about?

·     Think about?

·     What qualities do non-assholes possess?

Challenging peoples thinking is what I do for a living. I think its valuable, productive and fun! (Not everyone agrees with me.) 

Of course; every business will be more successful if it is filled with non-assholes. (The Anti-ass, if you will ) But what does that mean? I wracked my brain for the antonym of asshole and later turned to the internet. Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Mirriam-Webster.com all failed me. You can find the pronunciation, 16 synonyms, the origin and history of the word (It 1st came into popularity and was widely used as slang during the 14th century) but you cannot find its’ antonym. My exhaustive 2-minute search confirmed my point, telling someone to not be an ass, doesn’t cover it.

 Setting clear expectations is the best thing you can do to help an employee be successful. And let’s face it, if your employees are successful, your business is too.