When you think about George Washington, you probably think about how he was america’s first president, or a great military leader, or even that he never told a lie. But many don’t realize that George Washington was a highly successful businessman. This entrepreneurial spirit was evident when George Washington was just a teenager, he found himself led to read a popular french hand book called “Rules of Civility”. To fully comprehend this piece, he decided to copy it in his own hand. These rules undoubtedly helped Washington in business, politics and personal life. Today we’ll go over 6 of them!
1. “Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any.”
This rule is often neglected in modern times, many times to the detriment of one’s business. If one is mentioning something disparaging about another, you can be sure they do the same to you. Additionally, it could be the case that they are simply trying to manipulate the way you view that other person, in order to advance their own position. Hanlon’s razor is a good aphorism to live by when dealing with situations such as these.
- “The gestures of the body must be suited to the discourse you are upon.”
In other words, human communication consists of far more than mere words. 55% of communication is body language, 38% the tone of voice. Keep that in mind when dealing with others, particularly in business.
- “Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.”
In business and life, most people lack brevity and depth. They turn a 17 minute business meeting, into a 47 minute meeting. Yet they often still fail to convey many important details. In short, be polite and charming, yet direct and detailed. Your time is much too valuable to waste on verbosity.
- “When you see a crime punished, you may be inwardly pleased; but always show pity to the suffering party.”
On the surface you might call this behavior being “inauthentic” or “fake”, but in reality, this is simply illustrating the importance of empathy. The ability to understand what others feel and want, is one of the most vital skills to develop for life and business. This social intelligence, will allow you to step into the shoes of both customers and foes, and see things from their point of view. This will allow you to spot traps as well as opportunities. It will behoove you greatly, to diligently work at improving your “social intelligence”.
- “In visiting the sick, do not presently play the physician if you be not knowing therein.”
In every niche of business you will find people who claim to be experts in a particular field. Be it Ecommerce, real estate, investing, etc. Unfortunately, many of these people’s only expertise, is in selling you a class on “how to start a business” when they themselves have never actually done the deed. You should avoid these people at all cost. And more importantly, don’t be like these people. Short term success, isn’t worth losing in the long game. Your reputation is everything.
- “Being to advise or reprehend anyone, consider whether it ought to be in public or private; presently, or at some other time, in what terms to do it and in reproving show no sign of cholar but do it with all sweetness and mildness.”
There are two prominent theories on how to handle reprimanding/firing an employee. Some believe if they do it in public view of the team, it inculcates a culture that incentivizes people to work harder. Others go so far in the other direction, that if they fire someone, they will not only help them find another job, but even provide them with a cover story of how they’re “moving onto bigger and better opportunities”. All so that the team doesn’t find out. Only YOU can decide where on this spectrum you fall as a business owner. Choose wisely.