Karen Michaels, the chief operating officer, burst into Maria’s office. “What is this!?” Maria ignored her.

“Maria, I’m talking to you.”

“No you’re not,” Maria said. “You’re yelling at me. You’re not my parent and you’re not my boss, and I don’t respond to people who talk to me in that tone of voice.” Civility in the workplace had become an issue for Maria and she didn’t want Capital View to be a place where people spoke to each other like that. She definitely wasn’t going to let it be a place where people spoke to her like that.

“Well, there’s something we need to talk about.”

“Then let’s talk. Please calm down and have a seat.”

“I’m sorry for ...

Get Aha Moments in Talent Management: A Business Fable with Practical Exercises now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.