Good points YoDude.

The other big help in my growth recently was working in a global customer-support capacity for Nokia the last year or so I was there. I had never been in such a capacity before and had a LOT to learn.

Problem was, I started off supporting 400 or so people all across the planet, indirectly managing about 50. I had never directed more than 12 at a time, and those were in person.

Right off the bat I screwed up and got on the bad side of many claims handlers. I had a bad habit of quoting policy when any issue arose, and that didn't earn me any friends.

I had to learn the hard way after a performance review to completely change my approach. I realized these people just wanted to do their jobs, too, and didn't have any more time than I did to fight the system. So I changed the first line of my emails from a robotic:

to an empathetic:

The difference was night and day. Even my boss noticed. I went from him doubting I could get the cooperation I needed (no one had before) to gaining the trust of almost every single user. They started sending me gifts (through him at times) and greeting me enthusastically the rare times I got to meet any of them. Made my work sooo much easier and more rewarding.

All they wanted was someone to listen without judgment.