Why good manners matter if you want to scale that career ladder

A lot of us are educated, experienced and even very talented. We rise through the ranks over the years but there just seems to be certain levels you don’t reach.

There are certain tables we are not invited to eat at and certain functions we simply don’t get asked to represent our companies at. Unfortunately, those are the events at which the opportunities that we want are.

Companies hire us, spell out our mandates and share the vision, mission and core values with us. If we are lucky, there’s a colour-coded organisational chart hanging somewhere to show us our next steps on the corporate ladder.

We sign up, roll up our sleeves and get to work. Competition is stiff so we go back to school to add another feather or two onto our hats.

Several years down the line, we are nearly done with a masters degree and are still painfully at the 11th level beneath the CEO. When in this lifetime does one get to the top?

Unfortunately no one tells us that raw talent, experience, education or years of service may get us hired and retained but are not enough for career advancement. They won’t necessarily get us quickly noticed for the great job we do either.

Becoming a success in today’s multi-cultural global economy is pegged a lot on the soft aspects of our interactions with others.

Few parents are knowledgeable in this area and if we didn’t attend the few well-round schools that help inculcate the finishing touches in our manners, demeanour, and behaviour we unfortunately go through life ignorantly committing one faux-pas after another to the detriment of our personal and professional reputations.

Granted, it’s not a major job deliverable but if can you expertly carve the meat off your chicken breast, chop it into decent sizes and decently enjoy it while holding a coherent conversation about the dip in the stock exchange without any food bits flying off your plate, you win yourself lots of bonga points.

You cannot slide into a room and take the first seat hoping the people at the table will be interesting and if not, suffer them throughout the whole event because the thought of getting up to seek livelier people gives you a migraine.

Avoiding professional networking functions on the feeble excuse that they can be quite boring is not an option either.

If you think they are boring, you are the boring culprit and the functions are better off without you because you do not add any value to them anyway.

Are you one of those office visitors who are stuffy to the guard, front office person and even the personal assistant saving all your charm for when you get into the CEO’s office? You’ll be lucky if the CEO even gets to know about you.

The gatekeepers you ignore along the way won’t let you and if they do, the CEO will get to know about the attitude adjustment you desperately require.

No one tells you this but you are required to light up a room simply by entering it. You should pleasantly chat up practically anyone like you’ve known them since childhood and build meaningful relationships like a pro.

You become successful by working your ability to put anyone you encounter at ease. You must know to leave everyone better than you found them. It shows your people-mastery.

If you can interact with anyone from the annoying parking attendant to the head of state with unparalleled suave, you have the mark of leadership on you.

Yes, you need to be an expert in your field and boast a good many years of experience in noteworthy positions held in respected institutions but nothing will exempt you from the requirement to command remarkable soft and people skills.

Impeccable etiquette distinguishes you from the masses. placing you on a pedestal and proceeds to shine a halo above your head that says; “You need me on your team”. This should be common sense. It sadly is not.

Learning, embracing and practising proper etiquette in any setting is an unspoken powerful tool that will see you quickly join the upper echelons of any success ladder.

How would you rate your etiquette? If you’re not impressed with your score, others are even less impressed. That means that climbing to the top executive’s position is going to be a very long steep affair for you.

Get working on your soft skills, become more confident in your abilities so you can fully concentrate on growing your career. Good manners make your skills shine more and leave a positive impression on every single person.

Ms Ruligirwa-Kamara is an expert on Attitude and Human Potential. Email: [email protected]