The Book of Business Etiquette

namely, that the basis of courtesy in business is common sense, and that whatever rules may be given must not be followed slavishly, but must s

n which employs a thousand or more peo

not only his own welfare to look after but that of the men and women who work with (we l

which enable them to rise. For this reason we shall take it for granted that the president needs no instructions. Alre

et help from him. Thousands during the course of a year come to call on him. If he saw them all he would have to turn over the presidency to some one else and devote himself to entertaining visitors. Many of those who come ask for him

uable (all time is valuable, as far as that goes), and it must be

xecutives would be his best protection. They are not. It is the person who

ized the importance of the position. A well-poised girl or a woman who has had wide experience in handling people can fill the place quite as efficiently as a man, and a great

enly, with a "Certainly, sir," and a smile instead of a "That's Bob's business" and a frown, was made manager of the messengers, and then first assistant of the man at the

asks at once for the president. He does not give his card because the school where he learned his trade cautioned him against doing so. (He is perfectly correct, and he

remark always, because if he is not he sh

nt to increase efficiency of typewriters. He

s to all such things for us. Will you be seated here in the reception room," motioni

ry of any kind, but it is ever on the alert to discover means of increasing it

ll be free in about fifteen minutes and then will be glad to see the salesman. The man reports to the visitor and asks if he cares to wait.

wants to see

an replies. "Perhaps there is something I can do for y

ess," he answers rudely.

He may be a person the president wants to se

annot possibly see h

ill he

r or two, and I am sure he will not see you even then unless

nows that the president will not see him under any circumstances. He is already heavily insured, as eve

etting him waste your time. He is already carrying a heavy policy and h

well as the president's. He does not care half so much for the salesman's time-there is no reason why he s

nce some one else that what they have is worth while whether it is an idea or a washing machine or a packet of drawings)-there is a certain rough type of salesman who tries to bl

he president has given positive orders that he must not be distu

om, and asks him to be seated while he finds out if the president is busy. He telephones to the secretary of the president, tells him who is calling, and asks if the president is ready to see him. If the answer is affirmative he asks if he will see him in his office or out in the reception room. It is much easier to get rid of a visitor from the entrance hall or re

consulting his schedule, that the president has never heard of such a person and has no such appointment. A man of this sort is not worth a minute's consideration. H

ointment with you. I am afraid you have come to t

voice which convinces the visitor t

me to have lunch with a friend of hers

call her now, of course, but if you would rather not disturb her, I'll tell h

er not to disturb her. The young man offers her a chair a

lves comfortable in exactly the same way, but the means of attaining success in such a place lies in the fact that he greets each visitor as if he were the only one he had to attend to, and that he i

are tired your voice shows it; if you are cross your voice tells it; if you are worried, your voice betrays it. It is possible for one (everyone) to cultivate a pleasing voice. The telephone companies have learned this, and there is no part of her equipment upon which they spend more

e call without a very clear idea of what they want, and the fact that business houses have so many different names for exactly the sa

comes the query over the wire to a girl w

I did not qu

ats the word and the girl is sur

ybe there is some one else who would d

nt a

I'll connect you with

ecretaries, and many others are ol

on in business. She must, under the handicap of distance, accomplish exactly w

she must not slam the receiver down while he is talking. Perfect poise, an even temper, patience, and a pleasant voice under control-if she

tead of giving her the numbers of the two concerns. She then has to look them up, quite a difficult task when one has the headpiece on and calls coming in and going out every minute. To stop to look up one number often delays several, and it is a duty which sh

ly as is humanly possible, but even then she is often scolded by

busy. He waits. Hours pass. At least it

er with that num

. Hunter. I'll call y

e trouble is. He does not get the number any more quickly this way, but it would be hard to convince him that he does not. The girl says quietly ag

usually so often-it is hard for her to keep a grip on her temper and answer pleasantly, "This is not the number you want," but the snappish answer always makes a bad situation worse, and the loss

nt turns over the details of his day's work. He arranges the president's schedule and reminds him of the things he has forgotten and the things he is likely to forget. He receives all of his visitors by telephone first and many times disposes of their wants without having to connect them with the preside

hat he can give intelligent answers to the people who come, so that he can keep things running smoothly when the president is away, so that he can answer without delay when t

ey can remember the date on which the representatives of the Gettem Company called and the employers cannot. The author knows a chauffeur who drives for a famous New York surgeon who thinks himself a much better man than the surgeon because he can remember the numbers of the houses where his patients and h

The hour at which his employer comes in has nothing to do with him. There

be answered by the president personally. Intimately personal letters often come mixed in with the rest of the mail. No man wants a secretary whom he cannot trust even with letters of this sort, but almost any secretary worth having will feel a certain amount of delicacy in opening them unless he is requested to do so. When these letters are from people who write often the secretary grows to recognize the handwriting from the outside of the

l is sorted the pre

ods. It depends on how far apart the desks are, how busy he is, and a number of other things. He does not yell for his secretary to come in. He manages to get him there quietly. It is not necessary for him to rise wh

president to begin, and listens closely so that he may transcribe as rapidly as he speaks. If he fails to understand he waits until they come to the end of a sentence befo

he dictation but the secretary waits until he is dis

and makes notations in shorthand on them. He reports on the various calls that have come in and the house memoranda. A good secretary reads and dige

us say, or a girl whose preliminary training has been good and whose reco

is much the same as the relation that he bears to the president. She gets the letters that are addressed to him and sorts them in the same way

n better reason why she should go she explains briefly that it is impossible to stay. He never imposes heavier burdens upon her than she can bear, but he does not hesitate to ask her to do whatever needs to be done, and he does it with a "Please" and a "Thank you," and not with a "See, here" and a "Say, listen to me, now." She is a very pretty and attractive girl, but the man she is working for is a

knee trousers. "I could hold down the job," said a youngster who had hurt his hand and whose business was to carry a bag of mail from a suburban factory into New York, "if I could get

n do without it has a sharp reckoning day ahead. In most places the executives have worked their way up slowly, and at no time along the way have they

is-and this is true of every executive from the president down-the servant of his people in much the same way that the President of the United States is the servant of the Americ

and find they get along better without them. The Baldwin Locomotive Works, which has a hundred years of solid reputation behind it, has no management plans. "There is about the place an atmosphere of work, and work without frills or feathers," and this is essentially true of every busin

open offices have done much to create a feeling of comradeship among workers-the desk of the general manager is out on the floor with the desks of the rank and file of the emp

e that drift in from the outside. Some do it by means of secretaries, but a good executive needs no barrier at all between himself and his own men. They learn soon enough-we are speaking now of a good executive,

Both consented to see him, both kept on writing at their desks after he entered and gave him scant attention throughout the interview. Apparently they were both successful business men. Certainly they both held positions that would indicate it. Yet both of them a few years later came t

e. You see a lot in certain magazines about setting the visitor at a disadvantage by giving him

cially if the caller is young and ill at ease. It is imperative if it is an old m

he host should wait with a cordially receptive air until his guest begins, unless he is in

it neglect of one's employees. These should be met courteously and dispatched quickly. The host must always ask the pard

e elevator, as the case may be. This is an additional courtesy in which a busy man cannot always indulge. The essential part of every interview is that the v

e in which the real growth of a business takes place. And by the same token it is the one, generally speaking, where there is most discourtesy. Promotion depends upon the possession of this quality much mor

not affected by external circumstances, these are weeded out, and those with habitual grudges are weeded out along with the others or else are kept in minor places. Perhaps it would be more nearly corre

hall be loyal to the head of his departme

go to the head of the department and state the case to him. If this should fail he may appeal to the man above him,

s approval carried to the next man, or he may carry them himself. If this superior is the sort of man with whom you are constantly at loggerheads, you had much better get out and ge

use for having subordinates. The reward of good work is more work. This is less of a hardship than it sounds. Sir James Barrie once quoted Dr. Johnson's statement that doubtless the Lord could have ma

after. They call the persons in the former rush the clock watchers. They have left work about fifteen minutes early, and to-morrow morning-business experience has taught this-they

rs are impolite. It has also been considered a breach of good manners to hold a guest against his will against the conventional hour for his departure. The employers who habituall

." It makes no difference if one of the employees is a woman and the other is a man. Work at an office can be seriously impeded if every time one person goes to the desk of another the other rises. So many times the whole conversation covers less time than it takes to get out of one's chair and sit bac

rs to recognize superiority when one finds it. Youngsters entering business can sit at the feet of the older men in the same business and learn a great deal. Knowledge did not enter the world with the present generation any more than it will depart from it when the present generation dies. It is just as well for young people

as taken them several thousand years-to fight and shake hands. They have a happy way of forgetting their squabbles-this is a general truth-after a little while,

at a white-hot tension-the office boy in a busy Wall Street office during the peak of the

oments the terror of the office boy's life. Nervous, worried, tired, and exasperated, he is likely to "take it out" on the office boy if there is no one else at han

three men waiting in line to talk to him about serious problems connected with the

or me," the

an hour ago,"

utes before. Shall the off

e values

posed in the face of injustice, and the first law of courtesy for the office boy (and

tood still for a minute or two before he could decide which way to run. Meantime the bear, fully as frightened as he, turned and fled, spanking the two cubs at every jump in spite of the fact that each was already going as fast as its legs could carry i

t funny t

oys have not one boss but many. There should always be one person from whom they receive their general orders and to whom the

in point, a desk or a table, with one of their number more or l

. The bell rings again. The boy keeps his place. The bell rings a third time, long and insistently, but t

es that he will report the desk to the manager. Meanwhile one of the missing five has returned, and t

utives puffed up with their own importance are ready enough to listen-he may explain

who complains most is usually the one who is haughtiest when he enters into conversation with the employees, who, he thinks, are not quite worth his notice. He feels blighted because the president does not stop to say "Good-morning" in the hall, but it is beneath his dignity to say "Good-morning" to the girl who collects

o