Tell me if I'm being an asshole

Did that title catch your attention?

For the past few years since launching this site I have been working with a marketing company on my SEO. That work has included some bts coding expertise but also some (what I consider) generic blog posts. I don't know Google intimately (aside from my reliance on searching her frequently!) so I certainly trust the pros - but I also feel like it's important to publish in my own voice regardless if that lands me on page 1 or 21 for Maine Real Estate agents. 

Authenticity.

It's what I have prided as one of my best attributes in business and in life. There's nothing calculated or sneaky about me. What you see is what you get. 

That blogging contract expires at the end of this year and I won't be renewing it. I feel like you're here because you want to hear my perspective personally. Yes? I'm trusting my intuition on this one and looking forward to making sure this site is a pure reflection of me, and the rest can fall into place as it may. I welcome any and all suggestions of what you want to hear about, so don't be shy!

Now that we have established that, I want to share an important lesson I learned while going through the process of building a home over the past year:

I have never built a home before and so while I may know a few transferrable things from real estate, this was a whole new world for me. I had great references and made a great connection with our builder from the jump. As we waded through the process of contracts and designs and breaking ground and building progress and finish choices, I had a lot of questions. I also had a lot of trust in the team - this was their field, after all. I made a point to tell our construction manager to tell me if I am ever being an asshole. 

I don't believe I ever was an asshole (or at least wasn't told that I was!), but it was important for me to set that precedent as our communications were frequent over text, email and phone calls and I didn't want the tone to be interpreted as anything other than curious and grateful. And by saying please-call-me-out-if-this-ever-crosses-a-line, it made for a respectful framework for our relationship. (It's also important to anticipate that mistakes will happen. We're all human... minus AI bots writing non-specific blog posts).

This approach has worked well in real estate relationships since, too (and also gets a good laugh because once you get to know me, you'll realize this kind of crass talk is atypical so the lesson is that much more memorable!).

Can you think of an example in your life where you can help diffuse potential tension before it starts by asking to be told should you behave like an asshole? :)