Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

When someone enters your area of activity do you instinctively know what they are looking for and whether, or not, they will be friendly and approachable?

Are you willing to hold back your judgement until you know much more about them?

Do you only take notice of how they present themselves and make your judgement in that way?

 Misjudging A Situation

One of my friends did that once, when an old man wearing dirty clothes entered his business, he immediately instructed one of his colleagues to ask the man to leave.

While the colleague was escorting the man to the door, he engaged in a conversation with him and was somewhat surprised to hear the old man say that he would have to take his business elsewhere.

The colleague asked the old man what he meant by that and the old man explained to him that he had just won a considerable amount of money on the lottery and he wanted to invest that money in a good business.

This was why he had come to them, because a really close friend of his had recommended he should make his investment with their business, because they were very helpful and considerate to their customers.

With this the old man proceeded through the door with a wry smile and the comment, well, I guess they were wrong in their recommendation in respect of your business after all.

Reduced Opportunity

This is called judging a book by its cover and anybody that thinks in this way will inevitably miss the opportunity to gain any benefits from having an interaction with another person.

How many times have you judged another person in this way, when they have entered into your area of activity and how many times have you got it so wrong, or maybe you may never know.

Judging people by their appearances, without listening to what those same people want to say to you about themselves, will only reduce the opportunity that you have for them to be friends with you.

Just as it is with a book, to really understand a person, you have to look beyond the cover. And then make your judgement based on all the facts and information that you are able to discover about them.

It is only a matter of courtesy, but it can really make a big difference in how many successful relationships you will have in the future.