Rules of Management, The: A Definitive Code for Managerial Success

Chapter 93. Maintain Good Relationships and Friendships

	“Don’t flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.”
	--Oliver Wendell Holmes, American poet

I have a friend who has a catchphrase—don’t we all?—and his is, “I don’t see how that can possibly be good manners.” He uses it if anyone interrupts him at meetings or steals his ideas. I love it because it says everything about poor working relationships. Good manners—what a simple concept but how big a subject.

It is easy to maintain good relationships and friendships at work if you maintain good manners. This doesn’t have to mean opening doors for people ...