Is your A-Game on all the time?

Recently I was flying home from an event in Denver, and had an incredible experience with a fellow passenger.  Let's call her Ann, not her real name. 

Ann and I both noticed each other sitting at the gate. We were the only two dressed in suits, obviously she had just finished a business deal and I had just finished a training.  

We started talking, and I noticed a couple things immediately. Although professionally dressed, Ann's professionalism and A-game stopped there.  She reeked of booze and cigarettes and was obviously drunk. Still I wanted to hear why she was celebrating. 

Ann just pitched her services to a company and she felt they were going to make a decision soon. I was a bit perplexed why she was celebrating, but apparently it was her normal behavior.  Combine her current state with her constant bragging and one-upsmanship, and Ann was a volatile cocktail of disaster.  She had completely turned me and everyone around me off. 

To make matters worse, Ann spotted a high value prospect and was getting ready to approach him.  I was about to stop her from blowing an opportunity when someone else listening and observing her actually intervened and stopped her because of her current state of being. 

This begs the question, do you have your A-game on, and shouldn't it be on all the time.  While this was an extreme example, the answer is an absolute YES.  You never know where opportunity will strike, and who you will impact. So always, always have your A-game on.  

Don't be an Ann. Bring your A-game always, and in all ways!