“Office Etiquette for Business Women”

“Etiquette in an Office” of the day featured in a newspaper.

Good Manners Essential to Success

The great majority of successful business men and women have been and are possessors of strong personalities of the right sort, and by analyzing their climb to success it is amazing to discover how large a part good manners, good breeding and correct behavior have had in helping them to win the goal. There are, naturally, men and women who have reached the top by other than unselfish or courteous means, but they are in the minority and their perch is frequently a precarious one.

Value of Courtesy and Tact 

Courtesy also includes tact, an indispensable attribute if one is to attain even the slightest degree of success in the world. Tact has been occasionally spoken of as a somewhat hypocritical trait, but it need not necessarily be so. A tactful person is one who must exercise good judgment in “sizing up” a proposition, a present circumstance, the temper of a certain group of people or the idiosyncrasies of a particular individual. Such a person will make no move to antagonize, but will instead bring the utmost courtesy to bear in meeting the demands of the occasion. By this consideration, this polite and tactful manner of dealing with the issue in hand, he will be able to win others to his point of view or, at least, to make a favorable impression that can be productive of good results in his future. On the contrary, by rudeness, by a display of selfishness and a lack of the right consideration for the feelings of others one is deliberately closing and double-locking the door to every good the future may hold.

It is not in the business world alone that the little courteous habits we form add to the charm of our personality, for once such habits are formed we shall carry them with us everywhere. They will give us added value in the world outside the office; they will bring us added affection from our friends and even our immediate family. For we have, after all, to live in a very crowded world today we are being jostled on every side by men and women of all sorts and conditions and if we do not want to sink below the surface of the great tide of humanity, if we want instead to raise ourselves a little above it, we cannot afford to neglect anything which will serve to mark us favorably from among those surrounding us. The men and women who do this are those of outstanding personalities.

Opening the Door to Opportunity

Personality is the magic key that will open all the doors to opportunity and success. Of course courtesy alone will not build personality, one may be perfectly courteous and still be negligible; but there is rarely found a man or woman of fine personality who does not also show a courteous con sideration for others, a real kindness in his or her dealings with them and a genuine interest in matters which concern them. Each of us has to come into contact with so many different people every day of our busy lives that we should make almost any effort to draw them to us and to make a good and lasting impression on them. In many offices a woman's greatest chance of success rests with this power she has of making a good impression on the business men and women who have personal dealings with her employer.

Some men and women have been fortunate in being endowed at birth with a personality that all the world might envy; others have to develop personality as they go through life. And there is no royal road to its attainment; but by being, among other things, courteous, tactful and really interested in others, one can learn the full meaning of this undefined word and can enjoy to the utmost the advantages it will procure. – From “Office Etiquette for Business Women,” by Ida White Parker, 1924

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette for Business Women, 1924

‘… This ability to be interested in everything, to be ignorant of the meaning of the word “boredom” was one of the strongest and most alive traits in the personality of Theodore Roosevelt, and it was one of the means by which he impressed every one who met him with his unfailing courtesy. He was by nature one of the most courteous of men, and his wide experience and training made him “one of the greatest masters of etiquette.”’ ~ Whenever speaking of etiquette, another Roosevelt always comes to mind… Eleanor Roosevelt. Not only did she write a terrific book of etiquette and numerous etiquette articles and news columns, but she presided over the White House as First Lady during a time when so many women left their homes and went to work in factories to help the war effort during WWII. – Public domain image of Eleanore Roosevelt

Courtesy an Important Part of Personality

Personality is a word that has come into wide usage within recent years, but no one seems to be able to define it satisfactorily. We know what it means and we instantly recognize the quality when we meet some one who possesses it; but there are two sorts of personality. There is the kind that wins us, that draws us irresistibly to its possessor, and there is the kind that may be so sharply accented that we are repelled instantly. In both of these, courtesy, or the lack of it, plays an important part. It is just by taking a little thought, by learning the rules of the game as courteously played, that we can go far toward winning the desirable kind of personality if we are not so fortunate as to have been endowed with it in the beginning.

The prime ingredient of true courtesy is unselfishness, though there are many persons with charming and courteous manners who are paragons of selfishness at heart. Nevertheless, true courtesy calls for at least a momentary forgetfulness of self, for thought for others and for expression of that thought by outward deed and manner. We shall, of course, differ from each other in that expression according to our different individualities, and this is to be desired. A stereotyped manner or an exactly similar method of being courteous would make the world a drearily monotonous place in which to live and it would not be long before we should all be seized with a desire to be as discourteous as possible, if only to break this monotony.

Limiting One's Mental Outlook

To be courteous means also to be kind. It is only courteous to assume an attitude of interest when another is talking, even if one have no real interest in the subject under discussion. This considerate attention will create a good impression, will add to the effect of one’s personality and will help to develop a characteristic essential for success. And after all, when one finds it difficult to be interested in something entirely apart from his own affairs, or when one is easily “bored,” he at once establishes limits to his mental outlook and starts the formation of a habit that is certain to cut him off from much future enjoyment in life. This ability to be interested in everything, to be ignorant of the meaning of the word “boredom” was one of the strongest and most alive traits in the personality of Theodore Roosevelt, and it was one of the means by which he impressed every one who met him with his unfailing courtesy. He was by nature one of the most courteous of men, and his wide experience and training made him “one of the greatest masters of etiquette.”

This courteous attitude is essential in the daily intercourse with one’s officemates. It is difficult enough to live one’s business days harmoniously with the same group of men and women without friction; but it is infinitely more difficult to do so if each one selfishly lives for his own impulses and desires. Courtesy plays a big part here in smoothing the rough places, in making the necessary contacts as pleasant as possible and in preventing much unhappiness and dissatisfaction. – By Ida White Parker, 1924

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia