The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-07-15


a young woman who worked for the
same large business concern by
which was employed, after / had
lost my sixth position, through no
fault Of my own, as / honestly be-
ieved, and often many times holly
stated.
"When I first saw this girl at work
/ thought her stupid. l frankly said
so to my employer one day, and be-
ing kindly lady she looked at me
gently and said: That young woman
is one of the most valuable employees
we have. If you had the qualities
which she possesses you would be in
valuable
'And she turned to her desk, and
resumed the perusal of the letter
which had interrupted.
"sWhat are those qualities II
asked.
"She did not reply at once. And
then she said: Watch her and see
if you can find out what they are.
And, if possible, apply them
Il went home with my thoughts
in a turmoil. had always been
considered brilliant, resourceful, ca
pable. Whenever / had lost a posi-
ton it had always seemed to be
through something over which I had
no control. Office jealousy, injus-
tice, partiality shown to another
never, so far as I had been able to
see, through any real fault of my
cwn. began to watch the valued
employee secretly marveling that one
so stupid should be so high IN the es-
timation of her employers, and by the
end of one month, / had found out
number of things, which I eventual
~ applied, and which have, I do sin
cerely believe, made or me the sue
cess am today.
II found that if this young wo-
man was slow, she was also thorough.
Whenever there was a piece of work
Of great Importance, this work was
invariably given to her, not because
she was so rapid but because she was
SO accurate. I found that she was
always at her desk on time. Not
ten minutes or one minute late, but
always in her place, and always
seeming to fit that place. I found
that she and her desk were both al
ways tidy. She was never over
dressed, but she was always imma-
oulate. I found that she had way
OF meeting people which I afterward
tried TO emulate. She was never eff
fusiye, she was always considerable.
She never lost her temper over the
telephone, as frequently did. And
she never gossiped. Later came to
know that this was her chief asset.
Gone day, in a moment of conf
dence, she confessed to me her stu
pidity. had a strange feeling of
guilt, when she acknowledged to me
that she was neither bright nor par
ticularly efficient.
"eWhen I started out to earn my
living" she said, 81 found that was
terribly handicapped. I was slow and
timid. and in some ways, actually
stupid. / knew I had to make up in
some way for the brilliant qualities
lacked, so I set myself to work to
cultivate the qualities which I pos
sessed. / made it a point to be al
ways punctual, always neat, always
considerate, and to attend to my own
business. I have tried to make the
most of the good points which I pos
. sess, and have made good"
That young woman is now happily
married, but have never forgotten
the success she has made by cultivat-
ing the small talents she had.
II had never cared particularly
, about my appearance in the office.
had never considered that civility was
possible business asset, or that
punctuality amounted to much in the
/, general scheme of things. And I hac
had a very bad way of continually
airing my grievances to the world.
To-day I consider politeness one Of
the most important attributes bust.
: ness woman can have, and I am a,
careful about my dress as a debutante
, though not for the same reason. Fol
. | dress simply, always, in the bust
ness office.
, ''But, most Of all, nave learned
/, to control my tongue.
at have come to the conclusion that
, it is quite as important to be pleas
ant as it is to be brilliant, in business
And that neatness and punctuality
/ NAV be oId-fashioned, but they still
! have their place in the world Of
) finance. l am not less capable thar
I used to be, but I am less sure that
E l am the only capable person who
E could FIJI my Job. And perhaps fol
/ that reason, have gone up and uE
the ladder of success until today an
( drawing a mans salary. am doing
( a mans work, by the way, so why
!, shouldn't I? But never would have
: reached the place l have won had i
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