I read an interesting passage in Pamela Slim’s Escape From Cubicle Nation this week. Something struck me in this passage, where she provides some tips on what she calls Networking Tips form a Nine-Year-Old Expert.
One of her suggestions is simply to “be nice to everyone”. I know that sounds ridiculously simple, but it really is meaningful advice. Dale Carnegie shared a similar philosophy more than 70! years ago in his watershed book (and possibly the best sales/relationship primer of all time), How To Win Friends and Influence People. In fact, “being nice” was the major tenant of the book.
Here’s the point: Everybody you come into contact with deserves to be treated with respect, regardless of their station in life or occupation. Remember, you were once a waiter, a babysitter, the guy who makes copies or runs for coffee.
So while you’re busy catering to the “important people”, focusing on those who stand in the way of your paycheck or promotion, the folks that you condescend are growing up, and moving up the corporate ladder, and they won’t soon forget the assholes they encounter along the way.
Intelligent Selling 