Saturday, April 19, 2008

Understanding Your Superiors


Top management sets the tone of the workplace and the relationships therein, including such things as how people dress and how they address each other. This protocol probably won’t be written anywhere. You will have to learn by observing those around you.
Address your superiors as Mr. or Ms., followed by a surname, not as sir or madam.
Don’t use first names unless and until you are specifically invited to do so. And even then, be careful. Just because you have been invited to use the boss’s first name or have had lunch or a golf game with her, don’t assume that an intimate or even good pal relationship exists between you. Remember that relationships in the American business world are based on rank, and rank should always be observed and acknowledged.

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