The considered judgments of a friend of mine are helping me clarify what I am… and without further ado… 

I am someone who hates to fail. I hate failing because it tears me up, by bringing all my inner am-I-good-enough thoughts to the surface.  I do not want other people to feel that way, so I try to recommend courses of action so that a failure can be avoided. This does not mean that I am not willing to fail, just that: Failures are to be turned into learning experiences, not to become the expectation for your work. 

I am someone for whom “just good enough” isn’t. 

I am someone who cares about what she does, the projects she takes on, and the work she produces. 

I am someone who is not comfortable with not filling a need, but also not comfortable with not having the tools to do my best at the task I have to do to fill that need. If you control the tools, you will need to give them to me so I can do the job that I am programmed to do. 

I am someone who will not mince words. I will do my damnedest to be diplomatic, but there is only so far that I will be diplomatic. 

I am someone who does not appreciate being taken advantage of. If you continue to put me in positions where I feel like you are taking advantage of me, please reference the mincing words/diplomacy statement above. 

I am someone who does damn good work. If I am taking on a project to fill a need with limited time and resources, and you are standing in my way, either literally or figuratively, I am already in “Working My Ass Off – Help or GTFO the Way” mode. If that’s going to cause you problems, then take the latter option and Get. Out. Of. The. Way.  Anyone working hard looks like a bitch if they have to deal with distractions while working and have to derail their work to either move people out of the way or stop to chat when they don’t have time to. 

Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it can be hard to deal with, but there’s a difference between working to be the best that you can and settling for mediocrity. I’m not happy with the latter, are you?