Title:
Remaining True to Yourself
Category:
Faculty Adage
Preparation time:
Less than 1 minute
Time required to apply:
1 – 2 minutes (depending on your comments and if you add some of
your own experiences)
Goal:
Remind the students of who they are and how standing up to who they are can
positively influence others.
This is a simple true story from a BYU faculty member.
Though only a recent BYU Grad, I was put on the fast track to upper management at a
very large engineering organization. I was by far the youngest person on the
management team. The boss expected the team to socialize together and this always
involved a lot of drinking, which he generally provided. Of course, I didn’t drink. I took
a little rubbing at first, but I did not make a big deal about it. I said very little, only that I
was a good Mormon and didn’t drink. I did not criticize, even though I noticed how silly
people where when drinking. However, gradually, people noticed I was not drinking and
soon a can of soda pop showed up “for the kid.” The interesting part of the story is that
several of the other managers noticed the can of soda, and soon asked for their own can.
It turned out that many of the other managers were teetotalers and preferred not to drink
but didn’t want to offend the boss. Several of these latter thanked me. Over time, the
boss toned down the alcohol. However, among that group I gained a lot of respect
without saying anything at all. This respect lead to many job opportunities to do very
interesting work that I would have never otherwise had. They were always willing to
support me.
Add a story from your own experience.