Hello, dear reader, I hope you’re doing well. We’ve been talking so much about art that I thought today we might take a break. Let’s talk business. The most fundamental, basic, useful, and applicable teaching in business is found in a myriad of philosophies, books, and courses. Yet so many people lose sight of it. It is simply this, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words the Golden Rule. It isn’t just about living well. It's also about filling your wallet. Perhaps that's the original reason it was called the “Golden Rule”. Ha ha, as in gold, the precious metal? Because, gold and money, and…yeah, okay so it wasn’t that funny.
In all seriousness, I can’t tell you how many management courses I took in The Colorado State University School of Business actively taught the Golden Rule in some shape or form. It really drove home to me the importance of the Golden Rule. Usually teachers would follow the Golden Rule with the caveat, you can always get mad later. If you start out angry in a negotiation it’s really hard to then win someone over with kindness. It’s like the difference between giving someone flowers on a first date instead of yelling at them for being late. If tardiness really gets on your nerves you can always get mad later after you’ve tried having a reasonable discussion. Maybe you'll learn an alien abducted them, they had to blow up the mother ship, escape via an alien life boat, and they still made it to your house after only five extra minutes had passed. On a side note, becoming a school principal might be a good career choice for you if you're still mad after such a creative explanation. Maybe you wish you could undo your reaction?
There is no undo button for real conversations. I imagine life would be very different if there were. So why not listen to tried and true advice from people such as Dale Carnegie, the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People; Jesus Christ, the universally revered teacher whose words can be found in Mark 12:30-31; and most of my business professors who are really smart and got paid to teach people the principle of the Golden Rule.
So what is a practical way to apply this? I think one of the best ways to do this is to take a deep breath, wait a few seconds before responding to an incident, and think to yourself 'what would I have done if I were in their shoes?' This not only prevents you from exploding in anger, it also gives you the chance to think about how the person reached this crisis point. Then you can teach the employee, family member, or friend knowledge that will prevent them from making the same mistake in the future. Great, so now you can deal with people more effectively. Let's go a step further. How do you treat people who purposefully mistreat you?
Surprisingly there are more than a few ways to respond to injustice. I’m only going to present a couple examples. You can of course follow the “eye for an eye” route, which is just and sometimes the only way to get anything done, or you can guilt trip them. It’s very interesting. One example given to me in business school was the story of a university faculty member trying to do the right thing for a school, and getting virtually attacked by her peers in the administration for doing so. What my professor proposed was that she should thank her detractors, give them a small token of appreciation, and drive them crazy through kindness.
The background: the woman was trying to quit her job in a way that would let the school find a replacement after she finished a big project. So instead of 2 weeks’ notice for quitting she gave them 2 months’ notice (practical note, try to only give 2 weeks’ notice because of this very example. Some contracts might not let you). This sounds like a great idea. It is certainly very nice to your bosses. The problem is you might find your desk cleaned out, your office taken away, and the people that you need to work with to finish the really important project may start actively avoiding you. My professor said, in this situation, the best weapon is kindness. They take your stuff away, well, give them a small gift (cookies) of your appreciation for their past friendship. If this doesn’t melt their heart in the lava that is chocolate chip goodness their conscience will forever burn them for how they treated you. They can't say anything bad about you to a future employer. You have given them no mud to sling. Plus, you get to live with the knowledge that you were the better woman or man. You might not get any financial benefit for acting kindly, yet I feel like you can avoid a lot of future therapy bills by having a good attitude. Not to mention that many other cultures believe politeness is close to godliness.
So if you want to keep a business deal in the works, or a relationship alive, remember to treat others as you would like to be treated. The Golden Rule still works. People still make money writing books about it. Have a good day, dear reader.
P.S. No sponsorship or money was made from this post. It is purely my experience and opinions. If you would like me to write a sponsored post please e-mail me at [email protected]!
In all seriousness, I can’t tell you how many management courses I took in The Colorado State University School of Business actively taught the Golden Rule in some shape or form. It really drove home to me the importance of the Golden Rule. Usually teachers would follow the Golden Rule with the caveat, you can always get mad later. If you start out angry in a negotiation it’s really hard to then win someone over with kindness. It’s like the difference between giving someone flowers on a first date instead of yelling at them for being late. If tardiness really gets on your nerves you can always get mad later after you’ve tried having a reasonable discussion. Maybe you'll learn an alien abducted them, they had to blow up the mother ship, escape via an alien life boat, and they still made it to your house after only five extra minutes had passed. On a side note, becoming a school principal might be a good career choice for you if you're still mad after such a creative explanation. Maybe you wish you could undo your reaction?
There is no undo button for real conversations. I imagine life would be very different if there were. So why not listen to tried and true advice from people such as Dale Carnegie, the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People; Jesus Christ, the universally revered teacher whose words can be found in Mark 12:30-31; and most of my business professors who are really smart and got paid to teach people the principle of the Golden Rule.
So what is a practical way to apply this? I think one of the best ways to do this is to take a deep breath, wait a few seconds before responding to an incident, and think to yourself 'what would I have done if I were in their shoes?' This not only prevents you from exploding in anger, it also gives you the chance to think about how the person reached this crisis point. Then you can teach the employee, family member, or friend knowledge that will prevent them from making the same mistake in the future. Great, so now you can deal with people more effectively. Let's go a step further. How do you treat people who purposefully mistreat you?
Surprisingly there are more than a few ways to respond to injustice. I’m only going to present a couple examples. You can of course follow the “eye for an eye” route, which is just and sometimes the only way to get anything done, or you can guilt trip them. It’s very interesting. One example given to me in business school was the story of a university faculty member trying to do the right thing for a school, and getting virtually attacked by her peers in the administration for doing so. What my professor proposed was that she should thank her detractors, give them a small token of appreciation, and drive them crazy through kindness.
The background: the woman was trying to quit her job in a way that would let the school find a replacement after she finished a big project. So instead of 2 weeks’ notice for quitting she gave them 2 months’ notice (practical note, try to only give 2 weeks’ notice because of this very example. Some contracts might not let you). This sounds like a great idea. It is certainly very nice to your bosses. The problem is you might find your desk cleaned out, your office taken away, and the people that you need to work with to finish the really important project may start actively avoiding you. My professor said, in this situation, the best weapon is kindness. They take your stuff away, well, give them a small gift (cookies) of your appreciation for their past friendship. If this doesn’t melt their heart in the lava that is chocolate chip goodness their conscience will forever burn them for how they treated you. They can't say anything bad about you to a future employer. You have given them no mud to sling. Plus, you get to live with the knowledge that you were the better woman or man. You might not get any financial benefit for acting kindly, yet I feel like you can avoid a lot of future therapy bills by having a good attitude. Not to mention that many other cultures believe politeness is close to godliness.
So if you want to keep a business deal in the works, or a relationship alive, remember to treat others as you would like to be treated. The Golden Rule still works. People still make money writing books about it. Have a good day, dear reader.
P.S. No sponsorship or money was made from this post. It is purely my experience and opinions. If you would like me to write a sponsored post please e-mail me at [email protected]!