I Never Heard Back...

Have we lost all professionalism and courtesy in this country?I’m hearing this from some of my CFOs ...

--A recruiter called me, said he had a great opportunity for me, asked for my resume, and I never heard back from him.

--I had an interview 3 weeks ago and was told I’d hear back in two weeks, but, I haven’t heard back from anyone.

--After lunch with a CEO, and a great prospect, he indicated he would talk with the senior leadership team and get back to me by the end of the week, but I never heard back.

So I’m wondering .... Have we lost all professionalism and courtesy in this country? Does anyone who says they will follow up within a specific time frame actually follow up anymore? Does our me-centric world revolve around us to such a degree that we can no longer exercise any form of etiquette to others?

While we certainly cannot control the behavior of others, we can control what we do.

-- Say what you mean and mean what you say. If YOU utter the words ... I’ll follow up with you within XXXX days or weeks ... do it. Even if it is only an update to say no progress has been made, do it. Please treat others with the same courtesy you expect. Your reputation is at stake here and apparently, it will take very little to differentiate yourself from others, simply by being courteous.

-- If you’re a recruiter and you’ve given a Chief Financial Officer the cold shoulder, letting him hang after you’ve thrown him a bone ... he won’t forget. They tell me they won’t forget. So don’t be surprised to find yourself snubbed when he’s landed and sitting inside the nice corner office refusing to take your phone calls.