Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been reading the book, Talent is Overrated. While the books focus is on how do we as individuals and organizations achieve uncommon results, a line from the book hit home on the topic of civility.
Too often people mistake civility with politeness and when this happens in a corporate culture we tend to see people who are unwilling to deal with the “elephant in the room.” As David Nadler puts it, “There’s a veneer of politeness.”
But a veneer of anything is the antithesis of true civility, because real civility enables us to be genuine, to deal with difficult issues passionately but respectfully.
