You are the Company

Perception is Reality. How I perceive you, your company or organization is reality to me. You may work at the best and kindest organization but if you (you personally) treat me with disrespect or are rude to me I am going assume your entire company does business this way.Here's an example:We recently had a salesperson call on our company. He's selling a product that requires service from time to time. First time he comes in a car, pretty standard procedure wouldn't you agree? The next time, and every time thereafter, he's chosen to ride his motorcycle on his sales calls. Get this, I have no particular issue with motorcycles, but on a sales call? Pulling right up to my office on that chrome thing that's louder than a Mississippi diesel pickup truck? You've got to be kidding me. Yeah, he's got the jeans, brain bucket, head hankie, leather gloves, leather coat and boots. Please understand, this is good stuff if you're riding in an Orange County Bike Rally but is it really the image you want to be projecting about yourself or your employer?So my perception of his company (and it's a national company) is that they all ride their bikes to work and mix partying and good-timing in with all their work. Is this actually the case? Probably not. But it's my perception of their entire company and I developed that perception from exactly ONE of their hundreds of employees.Important stuff. What we're saying here is that how you act, what you choose to talk about, the level of your positivity when you rubbing shoulders with others, (whether you're on the clock or not) plays a big part in your contact's perception of your company.This can work for you as much as against you. If you're going to bring a great attitude, bearing and respectfulness with you, no matter where you are, you're going to be leaving a great impression for yourself, your family and your organization.Have you had an experience recently where one team player affected your perception of the entire team?