Business Class: Etiquette Essentials for Success at Work
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About this ebook
Have you forgotten a person's name two minutes after being introduced? Have you wondered which fork to use or how to discreetly pay the check while attending an important business dinner? Have you insulted an international client by mistake and didn't realize it until it was too late? Making these types of errors can get in the way of getting ahead. However, these faux pas can be avoided by exercising a little bit of business etiquette.
Business etiquette is a powerful, practical, and profitable skill you can use when it most counts to get a job, keep a job, or succeed on the job. It is a set of rules and guidelines that makes your professional relationships more harmonious, productive, manageable, and meaningful.
International etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore provides tips, tactics, and cautionary tales—gleaned from the experience of a multitude of successful CEOs and top managers—as well as information on how to:
· Be more polished and professional in the boardroom or at the dining table
· Master the art of mingling, networking, and remembering names
· Communicate effectively via technology
· Keep in touch, nurture professional relationships, and turn contacts into contracts
· Write effective thank-you notes and send the perfect business gift every time
· Be more "global-minded" and enhance international relationships
Business Class will teach you the nuances of treating colleagues, clients, and customers with courtesy and respect, which in turn will increase your visibility, credibility, and profitability.
Jacqueline Whitmore
Jacqueline Whitmore is an internationally recognized etiquette expert and the founder of The Protocol School of Palm Beach. Her extensive client base includes the U.S. Department of Defense, Booz Allen Hamilton, Office Depot, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Deloitte, Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young, Bloomingdale's, Sprint, and Burger King Corporation, among others. Jacqueline is a popular guest on radio and television and her etiquette advice has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Real Simple, Fortune, and O: The Oprah Magazine. Jacqueline and her husband, Brian Gleason, live in Florida.
Read more from Jacqueline Whitmore
Poised for Success: Mastering the Four Qualities That Distinguish Outstanding Professionals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Do's and Don'ts of Holiday Parties: From International Etiquette Expert Jacqueline Whitmore Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
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Book preview
Business Class - Jacqueline Whitmore
INTRODUCTION
Prepare yourself for the world, as the athletes used to
do for their exercise; oil your mind and your manners,
to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility;
strength alone will not do.
—LORD CHESTERFIELD,
British statesman, diplomat,
and author
Raw talent, education or experience, and competency are no longer enough to get a job, keep a job, and advance in a job. Nor is it enough to have the right product or service at the right time to court a client and land the contract. Succeeding in today’s global economy is oftentimes measured by your ability to wield a fork like a European, mix and mingle like a head of state, and build and sustain solid relationships like a seasoned CEO. More important, success comes when you are able to put others at ease. It is a reflection of the ability to get along well with all kinds of people, from the janitor who works for your company to the mayor of your city.
Along with communicating, negotiating, and motivating, business etiquette is an essential soft skill
that separates the leaders from the left behind. If you aren’t in tune with how your behavior affects others, you may be damaging valuable business relationships outside your company as well as within. Some people say that courtesy is just common sense, but what was once considered common sense is not so common anymore.
Good manners and subtle social graces are not inborn, they are learned. Etiquette and manners must be practiced just as you would practice tennis, golf, painting, or playing the piano. When you repeat a behavior often enough, it becomes automatic, feels natural, and helps you feel more confident in your abilities. When you exercise your business etiquette skills on a daily basis, you are better able to concentrate on the business at hand without anxiety about doing or saying something inappropriate or embarrassing.
A little polish and professionalism never hurt anyone in business. People of all levels, from college students to the brightest, highest-ranking executives, are signing up in droves for etiquette courses around the United States in order to learn the manners they might not have learned at home or at school. Many newly minted MBAs, middle managers, and CEOs alike are finding out that business etiquette courses help enhance their self-confidence and ability to interact with clients, customers, and coworkers with grace and aplomb.
One of my clients is a sales manager for an upscale resort and spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. He decided to invest in a business etiquette seminar so he could brush up on meeting and greeting people and finessing the business meal. I have the manners my mother gave me, but they’re not sufficient for today’s ever-changing business world,
he told me when he registered. He said he is moving up the corporate ladder so quickly, he regularly gets asked to represent his company at events where luminaries, dignitaries, and other high-profile guests are in attendance. I want to know how to make a great impression in the event I’m invited to a state dinner at the White House or a casual barbecue with my colleagues,
he said.
A few months after he took my seminar, he called to thank me and tell me that the lessons he learned gave him more confidence and made him more polished and well-rounded. Before the seminar, I was looking for a way to distinguish myself from the competition,
he told me. Now etiquette is my secret weapon.
WHAT THIS BOOK WILL DO FOR YOU
To many, the word etiquette
conjures up images of someone who is stuffy, old-fashioned, or pretentious. But etiquette is not about putting on airs, being artificial, or being better than anyone else. In the pages that follow, you’ll discover that business etiquette isn’t only for the upper crust or social climbers: it’s a powerful, practical, and profitable skill you can use when it counts the most.
To win in today’s competitive world of business, you have to know how to play the game. Of course, to excel in any game, you must know the rules. Etiquette is a set of rules and guidelines that make your personal and professional relationships more harmonious, productive, manageable, and meaningful. I’ve learned that the rules of etiquette, like most other rules for life or work, are not carved in stone. As I interviewed a great many bright, talented, and successful men and women for this book, I found that their anecdotes and words of wisdom were based largely on good judgment and good manners. These top executives’ stories confirm that good manners translate into good business. Their classic concepts, practices, and suggestions may even inspire and help you outline your own blueprint for success.
At times their advice may surprise you and even contradict what you have read or have been taught in other etiquette books. But everyone I interviewed agreed that everything in life is situational and subject to choice, good taste, and appropriateness. How your colleague handles a particular situation may differ from the way you handle a similar one.
Business Class offers a fresh, contemporary approach to creating connections, building solid relationships, increasing your net worth, and getting (and staying) ahead of the competition. It will give you a set of guidelines for treating coworkers, clients, and customers with care, and will prepare you for handling awkward situations or avoiding breaches of etiquette that could tarnish your reputation, sabotage a business deal, or derail your career.
It feels important to share this information with you because whenever you feel a bit insecure or self-conscious in social or business situations, just know that I and many others like you have been there too. And as I am writing this book for you, I am also writing it for myself. Inevitably, I encounter at least one of the scenarios contained in this book each