An Approach to Style That Promises Power, Money, and Class

Copyright © 2017 Palle Smidt and Lyndia Smidt.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the authors except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-9839-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-9840-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016912382

iUniverse rev. date: 01/31/2017

Contents

Introduction

Part 1 The Management Environment

1 Stakes and Career

2 Salesmanship

3 Leadership and the Managerial Imperative

4 Strategy versus Tactics

Part 2 Safeguards against Deceptive Thinking

5 Clear Thinking

6 Propaganda and Suggestion

7 Dishonest Tricks in Argument

Part 3 Ethics

8 Integrity

9 Promise Keeping

10 Loyalty

11 What Not to Do

Part 4 Good Manners

12 Tactfulness and Good Manners

13 Day-to-Day Rules of Etiquette

14 Rules of Etiquette for Parties and Entertaining

15 Visiting Cards and Telephoning

16 Traveling Abroad

Conclusion

References

Introduction

People worry about how to survive and excel in the workplace. Personal choices come under scrutiny. Many tend to elaborate on their personal histories or past successes, emphasizing instances where their knowledge or actions have been key in outdistancing their rivals. Clearly, such elaboration has often proved itself a formula for success. However, more than this is necessary to ensure ongoing success. What is needed comes in the form of knowing what to do when interacting and working with others. This knowing is what we call style.

We have all experienced that insight and effort alone do not automatically result in arriving at the most satisfactory solution. There can be many reasons for this; one is that we were unable to influence others; consequently, smart people are often left out. To avoid that, we decided to write this book to examine some obvious opportunities readily available to all of us—opportunities that are peripheral to the practice of doing work but at the same time crucial to success. With that in mind, we found it important to discuss a few key characteristics of the business environment, such as career, winning, leadership, committees, management behavior, strategy, and tactics. We chose these topics because choices as to deployment of assets and people are frequently less than optimum, or just plain wrong, which points to the need for a convincing style to sort out what makes sense. In other words, style provides the key to effectiveness, and true effectiveness leads to lasting success.

When dealing with colleagues, both friends and foes, on matters for solution, we know all too well that they often inject irrelevant emotion and self-serving politics into their arguments. We shall address such attempts to sidetrack rational methods of thought, offering solutions to avoid ending up at the losing end and becoming party to adopting conclusions that risk our rendering ourselves useless.

Further, we shall round off what we hope to be helpful hints by addressing ethics and trustworthiness, which we consider of paramount importance to success, professionally as well as socially.

Finally, another element essential to style—or class—is to treat all people with respect, simply by being courteous and polite. In covering that subject, this book easily turns into a rule book. Use it as such, but remember that the rules do not always have to be followed literally. That said, however, the rules must be mastered in order to gain others’ respect and support, without which real success may elude us.

The objective of this book is thus twofold: (1) to create a style that complements effectively the material form and technical know-how of our professional pursuits, and (2) to give advice conducive to creating an enviable, distinguishable personality that is difficult for rivals to duplicate in short order.

PART 1

The Management Environment

1

Stakes and Career

The Stakes

In a world where business as usual is no longer a viable option, the assessment of the stakes should be based on the understanding that the real stakes involve the ultimate realization of an individual’s capacity to succeed. The right choices should not be made on the basis of conventional wisdom. Rather, it is essential to identify what must be done to make feasible that which is personally necessary, as this is what can truly make a difference. We suggest that the most important area to focus on is personal conduct, or style. Why? The answer is simple. Without paying attention to style, we will be unable to effectively confront the deep-seated challenges to our individual competitive positions. The solution is to know and apply the rules of conduct and also to know what pitfalls we may face and how to handle them. True, there are many other critical issues involved in business and career planning, and we do not advocate sidestepping them. However, combining business know-how with increased awareness of conduct will make each of us a formidable competitor in the job market and a sought-after member in the social arena. It will reduce or eliminate barriers to carrying through plans and proposals. It will reduce or eliminate unproductive confrontations, and ultimately, it will favorably impact personal success rates. Indeed, developing an attractive, distinguishable style is risk-free; even more important, it eliminates risk.

Career

To base the advancement of your career exclusively on performance, in regard to direct industrial or political matters, is a very difficult strategy. It is a tough road to take, and it only works if performance is there at all times—and even then, there is no guarantee of success. Why? Because politics is as prevalent in business as it is in government. Favoritism is the order of the day, and competitive threats in terms of employee performance are not always welcome. The territorial imperative is in full force. And the good-ol’-boy system flourishes. It is difficult to become part of the inner circle, which in many businesses and government is almost exclusively male. On the surface the guys may be friendly, but that does not exclude the possibility that they will stab you in the back. The way to survive in such an environment is to be pleasant and smarter than the others.

You rise to power most easily by sticking to the familiar pattern: high grades for admission to a prominent university, leading to a sought-after degree, both which in turn lead to the right career with the right business or institution. This is still the ordinary recipe for bringing about affluence.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of achieving maximum performance from any cliquish system or from self-preservation is quite remote, since the most important feature is to belong. Businesses and governments have often been known to strive for leaders like the so-called company man, a clone of others who seek to belong, because such environments favor conformity. In such circumstances, it is possible that the profit or performance motive will be pushed into the background. That means the organization is less tolerant of mavericks, and