Being Polite
Being Polite
Meet Your Host, Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.
His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on several boards of directors in various capacities.
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 30th year and sixth edition. His newest is Your Legacy is Now: Life is not about a search for meaning but the creation of meaning (Routledge, 2021). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.
Get to know AlanShow Notes
Being PoliteConsider two axes, one or importance (of a job, career, project,
relationship) and the other of courtesy. Thus, we run from unimportant to
important, and rude to polite on the two continua.
If something is important and it is performed with courtesy and
consideration, it is effectively done. Consider the flight attendant ensuring
that seat belts are fastened or the server apologizing for a poorly prepared
meal and quicky replacing it.
If something is relatively unimportant but politely done, it’s a gracious
encounter. This might be the coffee shop worker delivering your order and
thanking you for your business, or someone ahead of you holding a door
and smiling.
When something is important but people are impolite you have a nasty
individual. I’ve met immigration officers who are simply surly and
disrespectful, and bank tellers who ask for identification from people they
already know quite well.
And when something is unimportant and people are rude, you have
malice—someone looking for trouble. These are people who shove you
aside on the sidewalk or who are passive aggressive and try to undermine
you in a chat with others.
It costs nothing to be polite, but it seem that a lot of people see it as too big
of an investment.
Alan Weiss’s The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken
