Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
Scheduling meetings with a number of participants can be maddening. Someone proposes several dates and participants chime in as the email correspondence multiplies with “reply all.” Emails cross, people change their availability, and it turns into a logistical nightmare for the hapless organizer.
I fell in love with the Chinese term “Wu Wei” (pronounced “ooh way”) the moment I heard its meaning: “effortless action.” It’s exactly what’s needed for success in networking and interviewing, indeed, for your whole career.
I believe that every good interview has a theme, and the candidate should think carefully about what his theme will be.
Conference calls are notorious for combining all the worst traits of meetings with the worst traits of slackers.
Americans, British, Germans, Israelis, and people from colder weather places like Scandinavia and Russia tend to be low context communicators. They also tend to value being on time and efficiency in meetings and business communications. High context cultures include Asian countries, Middle Eastern cultures, African, Polynesian and warmer countries anywhere. In these cultures, people understand much more than they say; body language, gestures and the speakers’ rank in relation to one another all provide a hidden context that may be a complete mystery to a foreigner.
My recent post on etiquette based on Laura Mathewson’s book Bottom Line: Manners Matter gave tips on how to make a great, mannerly impression. How much did you learn? Take the quiz and find out.
Along with cursive penmanship and letter writing, formal etiquette seems to be a lost art. Do manners still matter in the age of texting and flip flops at the White House?
