Professionalism and Courtesy — Good Things To Keep Handy

One of the big challenges in doing business in the 21st Century is that so many people seem to have forgotten the adage, of Asian origin I suppose, that “what goes around comes around.” Where the standards of professionalism 20 years ago required people to return phone calls and follow through on their commitments, that model has clearly gone out the window. We see examples constantly, where people behave so incredibly poorly — even where doing the right thing would have been completely painless and clearly to their own benefit.

But exactly why has this changed?  Has there suddenly come an upside in being regarded as a flake or a liar? Sorry, I’m lost here.

As I told a friend in New York the other day, in description of a mutual acquaintance who has simply disappeared, falling completely out of touch, when all either of us represented to him was the possibility of raising investment capital for his company, “He appears to have been born with an appalling lack of both basic manners and common sense.” Again, I don’t see the upside to anyone in having people saying things like that.

In contrast, I like the approach of a friend, a financial consultant with Wells Fargo Advisors in Santa Barbara. In his email signature is the phrase:

“There is one very powerful business rule. It is concentrated in the word courtesy.” – Henry Wells, 1864