No Perfect People

When I was growing up I wanted to be perfect. In everything I did. As a kid, I trained my sweet little dog to do tricks. And she was perfect – never failed at any of the tricks I taught her. I was a perfect dog trainer.

In gym class in elementary school, I did great. I worked hard, practiced hard, competed hard. More push-ups than anybody else. Ever. In the entire history of our school.

When it came time to choose a career, I found a perfect job for me. It was great, best job ever. I got to be the conscience of the world. Well, sort of.

I studied, worked hard, found the perfect place to work and I settled in, intending to be the absolute best compliance professional the world had ever seen, experienced, applauded.

Oh, I did the job, the training, the planning, the knowledge.

I was perfect as a compliance professional. I knew everything there was to know. And I told my coworkers how great I was, how well trained, how positively perfect in every way I was.

I was up to date on all the rules and regulations. I knew everything there was to know about my work – I was the compliance officer all the world wanted, needed, would joyously welcome.

Like Mary Poppins in the old movie, I was practically perfect in every way.

Only one slight setback. One teensy, tiny, hardly worth mentioning setback. Just one.

Nobody cared. At work, no one listened to what I said. No one paid any attention when I sent around guidelines and compliance alerts. No one came to talk with me about compliance issues. No one wanted anything to do with me. Ever.

How could I be the world’s best, the greatest ever, the top of compliance workers, if no one ever listened?

I was baffled. I was working hard, learning everything there was to learn, becoming the best, the hardest working, the most skilled and highly trained compliance expert ever.

Finally, I found a person who seemed a bit kinder than the others. I asked her what I had done wrong.

She studied me for a moment. Then she told me, “Nobody likes you. Nobody trusts you. Nobody believes you. How should I put this? In short, we don’t think you care about any of us – who we are, how we feel, what we need, what matters to us.”

Then she walked away, and I felt as if I were a big, huge, gigantic balloon and she’d just let all my air out.

It took some time for me to grasp who I’d become – so wrapped up in me, myself and I that I had no real time in my life for anyone else around me. I’d become so focused on being perfect, being great, being wonderful, that I’d forgotten everyone and everything else in the world.

There are no perfect people in the world. It was a tough lesson for me to learn. But once I let all that focus on me, me, me ooze out, I became a better version of me – a kinder, more caring, more aware person.

Since then, I’ve become a different compliance professional. I care about the people I work with, and now, knowing that I listen to them, they’re coming to listen, interact with and know me.

There are no perfect people – a lesson I’ve finally learned.

© 2024 K. Leet

What do you think?

Is being perfect, in fact, the perfect goal?

Why or why not?

What matters more than being perfect?

These are stories (usually fictional, but not always), based on insights and experiences from the world of compliance & ethics.