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In A Severe Mercy, a wonderful book about a fairytale love story that was present in reality, the author, Sheldon Vanuaken shares that his wife and he used the analogy of getting a glass of water in the middle of the night for the author as the highest form of courtesy. Thinking this through, one can see why this would be. Getting up for somebody else from the warmth of a bed into the cool of the night in order to meet their need for thirst is a simple yet profound way to treat someone as valuable - to treat them with respect. This level of magnanimity is rarely seen nowadays. As some readers may know, this week officially ends my career in the business world. Well, technically that's partly true. I'm leaving my wonderful job as the Director of Marketing for a jewelry design and manufacturing company to teach business students full-time. My break from corporate life isn't exhaustive as I will continue to consult and write, hopefully improving my value as a professor. But in all likelihood, this will be the final "9 to 5" job that I have. (Quick sidebar - I've never in my life had an actual 9 to 5 job. Whomever coined that term, never worked in marketing.) Having spent my entire adult life training and working in this career, its a ending that comes with mixed emotions. The purpose of this blog, however, isn't to mourn the passing of an era, but to share what I've learned in the leaving. When someone finds out that you are going to make a career of training the next generation, they are filled with advice as to what young people should learn. From "just be on time" to "dress for the job you want" to "make sure they know everything" people want their potential future employees to know what they need to be successful. And they aren't reluctant to share it. What strikes me about the teaching advice I've been given is that most of these actions fall under the parameters of what people would call "common courtesy." In fact, many business mantras meet this criteria. A sales book I recently read called SalesBurst!! was filled with them. Listen. Ask Questions. Call Back the Same Day. Respond to an Irritated Customer with Respect. None of these things were rocket science and yet from all appearances the author had built a successful carrier teaching people to do them. One would have thought these individuals' mothers would have taken care of those lessons long ago. And that's the truth I've learned. Common courtesy is anything but. In fact its occurrence is more of a phenomenon that an expectation. Being respectful of another individual's time, talent and resources is a scarce commodity especially if there's nothing in it for the other person. This is the reason so many businesses fail The traits that they believe they don't have to train for, do require training, because the common employee no longer possesses them. The companies that do it well are the ones that succeed. Doing the uncommon is always what sets one individual and one corporation apart from another. Isn't it nice that innovation now comes at the hand of courtesy? |
Comments
Congratulations on this new stage of your life. Those eager young business students will benefit from your knowledge and real-world experience. I really like your ideas. Your perspective is refreshing. On this whole idea of courtesy, it is almost a lost art. As a culture, incivility seems to dominate. We are defined by arguing rather than cooperation. It seems to me that this is one of the main reason students are looking for a new kind of dialog. Mako Fujimura, one of your fellow bloggers on Conversant, has written about a "third language" that mediates between extremes. He sees this as the role of the gospel. It's fascinating, and I think it's what thinking people are longing for.