By Vjekoslava Pavičić, Chief Communications Planner
I was recently at a big business conference when I overheard a conversation between two people waiting in line at the concession stand. One guy says: “I’ll copy you on that important email to the client.” And the other one said “Only involve me if you think it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want to be a blue colored pencil.”
Now this was an interesting turn of phrase. He was using the term “blue pencil” as a metaphor. In this case, he meant, he didn’t want to make any unnecessary marks on the situation. But because I’m a language nerd, I realized that the term “blue colored pencil” could also mean something very different. Sometimes the term is used by leadership to mean the most well worn and experienced person in a group: the colored pencil everyone needs most.
That got me to thinking: What kind of colored pencil am I?
Am I the kind of colored pencil that marks up the walls or signs documents when the only other option is a pen?
Or, am I the kind of colored pencil that people use to color the sky—the biggest part of a picture. The pencil that people use, and sharpen, and use again. The reliable blue. Always ready.
Since that day at the concession stand, I have done my best to live each day as the blue colored pencil that people trust. Not the one that gets ground into the carpet and makes a big mess, but the the one who—through guidance and support—helps the team move forward.
Thank you for reading
rosexknight would be either sky blue or ocean blue
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silver-tongues-blog asked: JESTRE DE RAMA i AM LEGIT MAD RIGHT NOW AND I BLAME YOU
Listen, i’m cool and all with websites pulling april fools pranks but please have a way to manually shut it off after it happens. First time it happens, that’s okay. It’s for shits and giggles. The million times after it’s annoying as fuck and no longer comfortable.
