Mr. Fix-it-NOT
What I said is this, “Tell me how you can look at the situation and see how your boss is correct.” To say the least, that’s not what he wanted to hear and he didn’t take it too well.
It took a while, but eventually he came to realize it made sense. The boss may not be correct, neither the teacher, neither the baseball coach and neither countless others that our friends and children will encounter in life. But one of the great skills you have to aquire in life, is how to deal productively with very difficult people.
Unfortunately, citizenship is not limited to easy-to-get-along with people. In fact, there seems to be a quota that all companies have to hire a few nuts. It must be one of the things you cannot discriminate against in the hiring process. There has to be some explanation to how they seem to get everywhere!
When your son comes to you, it’s your opportunity to advise, not solve. It isn’t always going to work like that, but our natural tendency is to be Mr. Fix-it.
Some time later my friend told me how effective my advice had been and how well his job is going now.
It’s actually quite easy to be Mr. Fix-it, being Mr. Fix-it-Not takes work.