(4) Practice unclear communication. From my weak directional paddling position Bill would also holler out a specific direction. "Head toward that tree", he'd call. Now remember he is sitting behind me. The island is covered with trees. Just what is that tree? "The GREEN one," he'd say. " Sorry, Bill. They are ALL green!" Since eyes in back of my head were shut I couldn't see where his finger pointed. I wanted to bite that finger. LESSON: Clairvoyance is not a skill set you can hire. Describe specifically what you want, andwhat you see. Bring people along into your vision.

(5) Make others bail you out of trouble you cause. As we circled various islands, Bill would cast toward shore. He has a good eye for distance but on occasion his line would snag low lying bushes and I'd have to climb out and untangle mess. One foot almost landed on back of a monstrous rock that moved: a moss covered snapping turtle with a shell size of a toilet seat and jaws that could break my ankle. I screamed. LESSON: You can be bailed out once. But for repeated errors, get out and do it yourself.

P.S. Concerned about workplace violence? Look at my response to a person I deeply love. Consider these lessons VERY carefully. (c) 2004, McDargh Communications. All rights in all media reserved. Reprints must include byline, contact information and copyright.

But contacts are important too for information they can give to you. If you are faced with a problem you should know straight away whom to contact. Without wasting time you can go straight to source of knowledge and return with solution. In this case you are not expert, but you know who is. You don’t have to be expert, but you can always find solution. You become a vital asset to a company. A man with answers.

3. Remember past.

During your time at company take note of what happens. File it away mentally or in writing. Remember methods that have worked and remember methods that have failed. See WHY they have worked or have failed and learn. Learn from other people’s mistakes and don’t make them yourself. In this way become a source of wise and reliable advice. Become someone who is listened to, someone whom others turn to. In other words become a steadying influence when times become hard and people start to panic. 4. See whole picture

Look at company as a whole. Don’t get immersed so much in your own narrow field that you fail to see complete picture. Understand what is going on in world at large. Understand events that influence your own company’s performance in market place. Understand pressures under which top management is working. Anticipate what will be needed. Anticipate changes that will inevitably have to be made. Be an active player in those changes, not a passive object swept up by them.

In all of this essential point is that you must be of real and genuine value to your company. Downturns will come. Business will ebb and flow. This is what happens in real world. And if moment arises when some of employees have to go make sure that your company simply cannot afford to let you be one of them.