Comments on: Persistence (or A Newbie Books Award Travel)

By: Vinay

Vinay — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:46:06 +0000

Nice work, and good tip for the future!

By: Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com

Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:19:54 +0000

I’ve got a post coming on persistence too. It’s often the ingredients missing in any goal, just keep plugging away even if it gets boring. Thanks for this.

By: Karol

Karol — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:19:38 +0000

Kudos to you for sticking up for yourself Kelsey! That’s really great to hear. And it’s awesome that other employees have benefited from your persistence. Rock on!

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:17:10 +0000

I have tons of persistence stories from my time spent living in Korea. The school I worked for kept trying to tell me things I knew were lies, because they assumed I hadn’t read my contract over in detail. I let them win some of the smaller, unimportant battles, but when they tried to do things like cut my vacation time short, I was extremely persistent. Persistence in the face of someone of higher rank is highly unusual in Korean culture, and it really caught them off guard that I kept finding higher and higher people to talk to until I finally found an administrator with power enough to tell my principal that be was violating my contract, and that he would have to give me my vacation days or be subject to a corruption investigation.

My persistence in that situation and in others earned me something of a reputation for being “difficult” with my school, but I have heard from other teachers who worked there after I let that my actions made the school realize that they can’t assume that they can pull the wool over foreigners’ eyes, and that they have been treating their employees better. So, persistence can often not only help you, but it can also pave the way for those who come after you!

By: Karol

Karol — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:13:54 +0000

hehe, thank you MS Scientist! Have fun with the gatekeepers. :)

By: MS Scientist

MS Scientist — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:57:45 +0000

OMG! This is seriously a great post on persistence. I have never booked FF flights, but I have always had to deal with agents who are gatekeepers. There’s a tone in their voice that is very distinct. Anyway, thanks for the link to Gary’s article. I am so psyched to start telling my little white lies!