For whom would you rather work?

(1) Someone who pays well, but who never thanks you for your contributions or constructively acknowledges them: or

(2) For someone who pays less, but is very respectful of your role in the success of the business?

Sometimes, as a consultant, I face this very question. I can invest my time with mean-spirited, miserly folks, who hate crediting other people's contributions, or for those with fewer financial resources, but who are lavish in their praise and appreciation.

Guess whom I choose?

Typically, I'll opt to work with demonstrative types. They are more comfortable to me for a number of reasons:

(1) I don't have to shower after communicating with them! Seriously, the curmudgeonly slime us so much that we need to hose ourselves down, and this is a royal pain.

(2) I don't have to constantly ask myself, "Why am I putting up with them?" when I know the answer: It's the money, dummy. Well, money isn't a sufficient justification.

(3) I hate the feeling that I'm working FOR anybody. With them is fine, and toward a mutually agreed upon goal, is also ok. But I am not an indentured servant; I am a free man, and not just after 5 p.m.

(4) If people don't respect us, how can we respect ourselves when we're in their presence? I think it's very, very difficult to do so, if not impossible.

Happily, there are some organizations that pay well and also show respect, but they seem to be getting more rare with the passage of time.

Know your values, and you won't be conflicted the next time a disrespectful client comes a calling.

You'll know that it's time to swiftly, and politely decline.