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Q: Jeff, I recently heard you speak. Very valuable! I have already applied lots with great results. I was also the one who shared with you the “things” businesspeople do (i.e., customers, employees, salespeople and vendors) that drive me crazy. What’s on your list?

A: Fun question! As you know, I’m a pretty positive guy and I am always willing to give folks the benefit of the doubt.

My assumptions are an individual is honest, trustworthy, reliable and reasonable — until they do something to negate the preceding, or send telltale signs that trouble is looming.

I’m always cognizant of some simple, yet profound, advice given to me by my first “industry mentor,” the late great Nick Carter.

Nick was a giant of a man. In stature and thought. He too was a writer and speaker, who spent most of his professional life at Nightingale-Conant, the motivational/educational audio company.

Nick once told me, “Always be responsible to your audience, not for them.” Nick’s point was that you seldom know what issues, challenges or burdens an individual carries into your relationship. You can only attempt to understand. And, you can only control you. Not them. Sound advice.

Knowing that and applying it, enable me to quickly get over other people’s falsehoods, misrepresentations, bad moods, nasty dispositions, wicked words or ill deeds.

While I, once again, can’t “control” the preceding, I do control my reactions to them.

Yet, to answer your question...

Here’s some stuff, that initially drives me batty, sticks in my craw or exacerbates my exasperation!

-- People who are duplicitous, liars or use language like, “To be honest with you,” “To be perfectly honest with you,” “To be really honest with you.”

Recently, someone uttered all three of those declarations to me in less than sixty seconds. Then, when I repeated (verbatim) a statement she made three minutes earlier, she exclaimed, “I never said that!”

-- People who don’t honor commitments, don’t listen or tell you, “That’s not how we do things,” “In our world, that’s never done,” “It’s working just fine, don’t need to consider another way.”

-- People who talk over you, don’t look at you when they communicate, who are deceitful and try to show their power by belittling others.

-- People who ignore the simple “rules” of etiquette, and forget words like please, thank you and you’re welcome.

-- People who cheat, omit facts and don’t “get it.” Those who engage in situational ethics, take credit for something they didn’t do, blame others for something they did do and commit acts of intellectual dishonesty.

-- People who aren’t prepared, make lame excuses, cheerfully seek your opinion with no intention of using it. Also those who are sneaky and don’t believe the Cubs will some day win the World Series.

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Jeff Blackman is a speaker, author, success coach, broadcaster and lawyer who lives part-time on Marco Island. His clients call him a “business-growth specialist.” Send an e-mail to jeff@jeffblackman.com or go to www.jeffblackman.com to subscribe to his free e-letter.