Bonus (and long) Quote

I get a weekly e-digest of the news and associated media stories and quotes. Today this cropped up:

Michael Phillips Moskowitz writing for Monocle notes that too often in business, basic kindness is eschewed in the name of efficiency, speed or tooth-and-claw competition. Nice is seen as evidence of nativity (sic). Yet in all professional relationships there is such a thing as a currency of good deeds - simple favours, personal introductions, proactive generosity and pre-emptive connections. The soft power of personality and informality can outperform harder deliverables. The strongest bonds in business are often fortified through acts of personal kindness. It won’t be long before this notion of goodness becomes part of our business identities, whether they’re corporate or personal profiles. If success is increasingly determined by who and not just what you know then the manner in which we treat people may - and likely will – soon prove the key arbiter of prosperity. Celebrate other people and their accomplishments and opportunistically seek out chance to aid others. It’s not about quid pro quo but almost selflessly demonstrating an interest in others. Success, like staring at stars, is best enjoyed obliquely, even if we intuitively think it’s a straight path.

I thought it was magnificent. Last time someone went round saying be nice to each other they nailed him to a cross (Douglas Adams noted) but it may just catch on.

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