To stop gossip begins first by acknowledging the belief that gossip is not a bad thing. When people have a belief that people gossip and that they, management, have no control over gossip must be addressed. Even though many people believe that gossiping is not really harmful, bottom line it is a virus that can immobilize the best organizations.

Much has been written about the impact of words. Words can hurt some contend. Others believe that words are simply that just words with little to no impact. The issue about gossip is much more about focus than the extent of how much or how little the words can hurt someone.

When a company allows gossip, they (management and leadership) are providing an excuse for non-performance and this results in poor productivity. Gossiping is usually on company time and takes time away from truly productive activities.

Not being focused on individual productivity is one of the negative behaviors surrounding work ethics. Employees with high work ethics generally do not engage in gossiping because they do not have time. Their focus is getting their job done by being productive.

Research suggests that at any moment within the work day, 75% of the company’s employees are not engaged on the job. Between gossiping and not to mention paying video games or surfing the Internet, is it a wonder about poor productivity?

When people live their core values as well as the company’s core values, they are demonstrating a professional reputation including high work ethics. To create a culture of high performance begins with the company’s values statement that cascades down from the top to the bottom. Gossiping should not be tolerated at any level and that is not only a management decision, but a personal one as well.

Are you where you want to be? To find out where you are, then M.A.P. for Success, a FREE email course may help you begin to chart a course for business, professional or personal success. Click here for the answer.

Do you want more sales? Then register for FREE professional sales skills assessment here.

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Tags: ethics, business, corporate, professional, training

The conversation started when the Dutch gentleman asked if the seat at my table was taken. I told him that it was vacant and he quietly sat opposite me. I asked him if he was staying at the hotel for the food fare. He answered that he was. He asked me what my line of business was and I told him that I operated a large catering firm. I asked him the same question. He told me that he had a chain of high street butchers shops in Holand.

Interested, I asked him how many workers he had in his business. He answered that there were around one hundred and fifty people working for the him. I continued by asking him if business was good to which he replied, “it is now”. “I made some changes and now we are all very happy”, he continued.

Puzzled by the reply I asked him what me meant when he said “we” to which he replied, “”the workers and myself”. I must still have looked puzzled because he added “let me explain”.

He continued, “one day I met an old man who looked to be very wise. After talking to him about this and that I told him that I was not happy with my business because I was not making much money and I had to fight to get customers through the doors of my shops despite much advertising in local papers. I tried everything. All types of advertising campaigns, schemes, incentives, you name it I did it. I was very quickly getting very mentally drained. The man asked me just one question. He asked me if my workers were happy working for me. I knew that they were not. I paid minimum wage and gave very few holidays and sick leave. In fact my workers always looked gloomy and sad. But I didn’t care. I told the man that they were not happy. He said “do you realize that your workers are your most vital asset. Nothing can move in this world unless people make it move. Besides, if your workers are happy they will sing your praises to everybody they know and bring them to your shop”.

“Suddenly I saw the error of my ways”, continued the Dutchman. “I realized that I had turned so many potential ambassadors into slaves. I realized that not only could they advertise for me but so could all the people who got a recommendation from them. In addition I also realized that my produce was not always the best quality. I had been trying to reduce losses by selling meat that was about to go off. I decided there and them to stop all my advertising accounts and to re think the pay structure and social conditions for all my workers. In addition I decided to sell only the finest and freshest produce at good prices.”

“When I told my workers about what I had decided they were so emotional that many of them burst into tears. So did I. I asked their forgiveness and told them that we were opening a new page. The next day there was a real buzz in the shop. Everybody was smiling. Customers smiled at me and told me that I was a good man. I felt better than I had for many years. I had no need to worry about the produce either because none of it stayed in the shops long enough to go off, it just seemed to fly out of the doors. From then on I have never looked back. I have added many new products to my range and the customers love them. In fact I am here to buy more new equipment so that the worker’s job will be easier.”

“What a wonderful story” I said. “And it all came from a few words with that wise old man, wonderful, wonderful,” I said

Just then the taxis arrived. I never saw the Dutch man again but his words will remain with me forever. Ethics does pay.

Hi, I’m Andy Routledge, writer, photographer, coach and culinary expert. I would like to invite you to look at one of my many web pages here and see how you can get your own web pages up and running absolutely free and with no previous knowledge of web page building necessary. Your page will be ready in minutes, it’s so easy my kids do it. Don’t miss this opportunity. Write about whatever you want and use it for whatever purpose you like. See also this site.

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Tags: ethics, business, corporate, professional, training

In order to become a success in any industry or business, I have discovered it is not necessary to produce a good work product, nor do you have to be conscientious about your craft. No, it’s much simpler than that; you just have to be an ass****. And I say this with the utmost sincerity. All of the “”movers and shakers”" I have met over the years, particularly in the I.T. industry, fall into this category and you would be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn’t possess these simple attributes as described herein.

First, you have to find a cause for you to pitch. It really doesn’t matter what it is, just something you are comfortable with, and something that appeals to the masses, particularly if it relates to a human weakness such as greed, violence or sex. Or it might be that you have invented a new mousetrap. In this event, you need to portray it as “”state of the art.”" Either way, you want to go well beyond simply peddling your offering, you want it to dominate market share.

Next, you have to cultivate a certain physical image, something that distinguishes you, usually by not conforming to current standards. This could be something as simple as a new hair style, facial hair, clothes, hats, jewelry, etc. The more outlandish, the better as you will inevitably be falsely mistaken for a genius and it becomes your unique logo which people remember. For example, I remember one guy who loved to wear a cape. You may not remember exactly what he said, but you remembered him because of that stupid cape.

Next, you have to master the art of communications as well as miscommunications. Very important: you do not have to be right in your message, just entertaining. This means you can be loud, obnoxious, even insulting in order to get noticed. And the more verbose your vocabulary is, the better, as people will misunderstand what you say yet regard you as a genius. This means you always try to speak above your audience, and most definitely not at their level. By doing so, you are endeavoring to dominate your audience through intimidation. You must also be a master politician as you have to be acutely aware of the hot buttons needed to motivate or coerce people to do what you want them to do.

This fixation on physical image and communications obviously means you realize the importance of facade as opposed to substance. It also means you understand the need to keep moving along before somebody understands what you are truly about. This requires you to be able to move politically faster than your opponents and undermine them as required. I am reminded of one CEO in the I.T. field who during the work week would make the life of everybody in the office miserable, but always made it a point to attend his church each week to be absolved of any wrong doing.

All of this highlights two points: first, morality and ethics have nothing whatsoever to do with becoming a success, and second; you must be self-centered with a huge ego. You see workers more as servants as opposed to employees. It also means your word is not your bond. In fact, honesty and integrity have absolutely nothing do with becoming a success. To illustrate, I remember when Hitler wrote that preposterous Munich Agreement for Neville Chamberlain promising he would never invade the Sudetenland: what a classic!

To be a success your behavior is perhaps best characterized as “”pompous”" and you enjoy a highly visible profile. I am reminded of a customer of ours in the Midwest who was developing new information systems for the business. Whereas most of the project teams quietly went about their business and delivered quality systems on-time and within budget, there was one Project Manager who never delivered anything of substance on time or within budget. But because of the nature of the projects he was working on, whereby he was applauded for his skills for putting out fires, he enjoyed much higher visibility than everyone else and was promoted more rapidly than others. In other words, he capitalized on “”the squeaky wheel gets the oil”" phenomenon. As an aside, we advised our client that their chief firefighter was also their chief arsonist (which never quite set well with management or the subject in question).

Successful people are certainly not afraid of stepping on toes and making enemies as they already know how to combat them. Show me someone who is successful without making any enemies and I’ll show you a fraud. If they’re not pissing someone off, they’re not doing their job. In fact, they’ve discovered employees generally work better when they’re pissed off. This sense of ruthlessness may make his confidants squirm a bit, but not to the point of creating a mutiny.

To offset their unscrupulous tactics, successful people will support high profile causes, such as charity, which is designed more to improve the person’s image as opposed to helping a worthy cause (besides, it’s a handy tax write-off). Another earmark of the successful person is his/her infatuation with toys. They have to have the most expensive car, the largest boat, or their house has to be wired with the latest technological gizmos. All of this is aimed at projecting a certain “”winning”" image to impress others. It’s one thing not to be apologetic for your success, quite another to flaunt it like P.T. Barnum.

Now for the big question: Do you have the strength and temerety to be a success? Just remember, you have to look at yourself in the mirror every day. Frankly, most of us do not have the intestinal fortitude for it, and quite often our moral convictions prohibit us from acting accordingly.

Please understand, I do not present this thesis to be insulting, cynical or even humorous, but to consider the subject very objectively. We certainly do not like to believe these attributes for success are valid, but are they? The idea of someone working their way from the mailroom to the boardroom in this day and age is simply a ludicrous fantasy. It requires taking some rather unscrupulous tactics in order to succeed.

But interestingly, the masses are enamored with successful people, even in the face of some of their practices. For example, on one hand we are appalled by executives who are generously rewarded with hefty bonuses even if the company is floundering, but on the other hand we envy their success.

There is only one drawback to being a success, it is very lonely as you have no true friends to confide in. In fact, you are closer to your attorneys and accountants than you are to your friends and neighbors. Nonetheless, you trust nobody but yourself. But if you have supreme confidence in yourself this may be a small price to pay.

I guess the point of all of this is that there is nothing fair in business, a message I often convey to young people entering the work force. If you want something, you are going to have to earn it, which will inevitably require you to compromise your principles.

A lot of people confuse the quirky mannerisms described herein as “”entrepreneurial”" or mistake them as signs of brilliance. In reality, it is nothing more than a charade. To paraphrase an old expression, “”You don’t have to be a brain to be a success, just an ass****.”"

Tim Bryce is a writer and management consultant located in Palm Harbor, Florida. You can find his work on the Internet, click here

Copyright © 2007 Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

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Tags: personal, ethics, code, professional, social

It is true that drug use by the employees would lead to on-the-job accidents, absenteeism and employee theft and that recurrent drug testing in the workplace could potentially discourage the use of drugs altogether. The major gripe of the employees was that it was not just the regular drug users and addicts that were being targeted. Drug testing proved a threat to the employment of people who used recreational drugs occasionally. There were fears of knee jerk dismissals of employees that were highly productive and efficient for the simple reason that they indulged themselves in a rave so long back that they could not even remember. Drug testing was promoted as to being focused on counseling and rehabilitating the employees that were detected, but people perceived it as a threat to their employment prospects.

Drug testing in the workplace was also being widely characterized as a blatant violation of the privacy of an individual. Today, these points of protests are dying a slow death as more and more people realize the importance of weeding out drug abusers from the workplace. Drug testing in the workplace in some form is approved in most states of the US, but the practice is not properly regulated in most cases. The people who are subjected to drug testing in the workplace do not necessarily give their consent, nor is it considered essential. The fact that a so called official could walk in and order you to urinate in a vial without a specified reason compounds the argument that this whole practice is a violation of personal privacy.

Although drug testing the employees was considered impractical just a few months ago due to its high costs, a new wave of practical and cheap drug tests flooding the market has caused a phenomenon of sorts. It is not just current employees who are subjected to drug testing in the workplace; prospective employees and job applicants are also put through a drug test before they start off on the job.

Today the hundreds of laws that exist that govern the drug testing in the workplace, most only aid in furthering the confusion on what is acceptable and what is not. To add to the woes, most of these laws do not help through the way they are stated to convince the employees who are on the receiving end of these laws. Still, the practice continually evolves in its execution to encompass more and more employees bringing the dream of a drug free workplace true – one employee at a time.

This Article is written by Lena Butler, the author of TestCountry Health Information Resources, a longer version of this article is located at The Ethics of Drug Testing in the Workplace and resources from other home health and wellness testing articles are used such as TestCountry Drug Testing Kits.

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Tags: legal, ethics, professional, issues, modern

They will showcase a good balance of offerings. Many of these will be with Fortune 500 companies and a good cross-section of well-known, prestigious firms listed on the various stock exchanges. And no quick-buck con men to instantly push these either.

They are usually located at easy-to-find addresses on well-known streets, and are housed in well-lighted, nicely-appointed offices. Very subtly you will get the idea that, while money can’t buy happiness, it sure makes misery a lot easier to deal with.

Extensive biographies of their brokers and other operational and management personnel are most often readily available. Some you will meet, with no hint or talk of up the ante, beat the street, sweeten the pot, a sweetheart deal, or it’s a cash cow.

And, their list of references and testimonials from satisfied customers is usually extensive. No chest thumping, self-congratulatory back slapping of themselves as being the “”best in the financial guru business.”"

In checking out their research facilities you will also find an attempt at thoroughness, a striving to provide fact-digging excellence to support their stock and bond selection recommendations.

In sharp contrast. . .

Much like the face on the bar room floor, a boiler room–or bucket shop–will almost always be located on a back street, in a dingy office. It will have many small desks shoved together, or in tiny cubicles, featuring sales personnel–scam artists– working phone banks, reading from scripts in their conversations. They do not provide wide-spread offerings. And, no research facilities open to the public at this version of a Norman Bates motel either. No extensive bios and no variety of testimonials. Their surroundings are much like the settings in a legal thriller movie.

Do not expect to deal with someone inspired by Mother Teresa. Rather, the boiler room boys will glad-handingly pass themselves off to you as the most gifted authorities on the American free enterprise system since the Rockefeller clan’s bankers. Their specialty, along with their operational goals, is quite different from the legitimate stock brokerage. Learning these differences is essential to your financial well being. Failure to do so could be the equivalent of diving into a lake encased in a cement life jacket. The con men’s “”specialties”" includes:

> Classic Pump and Dump operations.
Just another well-known shell game.

> Reverse of the Pump and Dump, known as the Short and Distort. Here the scam artists spread rumors in order to drive the prices of thinly traded stocks down. rather than in the generally accepted direction, up. Then, they buy back the results of their “”short sales”" at a discount and profit. Most often considerably.

> The selling of fictitious foreign exchange investments. Yes, that’s right, stuff grabbed purely out of thin air. The scam artists know how intriguing it is to seduce with language like “”foreign exchange,”" and how many suckers exist out there who will “”sail”" for this exotic-sounding type investment.

> The selling of risky, small cap IPO’s (Initial Public Offerings). Now, not all IPOs are necessarily poor investments. Some–a very few–are actually millionaire makers. But, the odds against are enormous. The only good, proven millionaire-making potential here is for the scam artists who peddle them. The odds do truly smile on the con men in this investment category.

> The selling of “”house stocks,”" shares in shaky companies–usually tiny firms–that are of OTC Bulletin Board or Pink Sheets quality at best.. These are usually blocks of stock that the scam artists have purchased at a sharp discount. Exceptions? Yes, like IPOs. A select few will flower, flourish, and produce bountiful profits. But, the big majority will reward–only–the con man advocate.

> Maybe the worst of all the practices of these people is the holding back on execution of sell orders. And, sometimes outright failure to execute. (They will go to great lengths to avoid the creation of downward pressure on the prices of stocks they are trying to unload.)

Selection can be of equal challenge–in determining reality as opposed to the plot of a legal thriller book. Your failure at being able to distinguish between the two–differentiate between the legitimate and illegitimate operations–could be costly to you. If you were to, somehow, stumble into dealings with the boiler room boys by mistake, you would be like the lumberjack 100 feet up a tree suddenly coming upon a bee hive. Naturally, you can stomp, cajole, complain. You can threaten them with a law suit.. Of course, you can always try taking a bone away from a pit bull, too. You’d probably get equally as far.

The Con Man’s Blog, and first two chapters of Jack Payne’s legal thriller book, Six Hours Past Thursday, are now available online. Both readable for free. You are invited to visit this blog.

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Tags legal, ethics, professional, issues, modern

• When handing someone your business card, make sure you’re handing it to them with both hands and be careful to face the writing toward the person you’re giving it to. Follow with “I’m pleased to meet you.”

• When receiving a business card do not place it in your pocket or purse immediately, this is considered very rude.

• If you know a couple months ahead of time you’re going to China, it’s a good idea to get your business cards printed in English on one side and Cantonese or Mandarin on the other.

• If seated at a conference table, place your business card in front of you on the table. This shows respect to all who are there.

• Use simplified Chinese characters for China and not classical characters from Hong Kong and Taiwan, there is a difference. Remember too that China is the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan is the Republic of China.

• Business gifts are always reciprocated, not to do so is bad etiquette.

When you take the time to learn a little something about the people of the country your visiting it will save you much embarrassment and keep you from offending someone. This is especially important when doing business with people from different countries. If your traveling for pleasure, you need to know how not to make those from different cultures uncomfortable, even when you think your doing something generous like giving a gift. Below are a few helpful tips about giving gifts to the Chinese.

• Chinese people are required to refuse a gift two or three times so be persistent but gentle. Also be sensitive to genuine refusals.

• Never ever give cash.

• Don’t be too cheap when choosing your gift. You will be seen as an “iron rooster,” i.e. getting a good gift from you is like getting a feather out of an iron rooster.

• If possible, give gifts in pairs since Chinese philosophy believes in balance.

• It’s proper to give gifts for celebrations, thanks for assistance given and even to soften up for future favors.

• Never give a gift for no reason, or “just because.” It’s considered offensive and in bad taste. A witness should be present also whenever giving gifts.

• When receiving a gift from the Chinese, do not open them unless they insist that you do so.

Shirley Tan is the owner of My Business Gifts (see here), known for their unique and superior quality business gifts at bargain prices was started in 2006 to offer high quality gifts for businesses and corporations at affordable prices.

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Tags: business, ethics, workplace, code, professional

I also believe that a business should behave ethically in achieving the above purpose. It is not right just to operate within the letter of the law. Businesses should also try and serve their local community and help its employees lead better lives. They should examine every decision they make based on profitability, long term business value and social responsibility.

By having real policies in place that take care of your employees and the local community it might be argued that long term this will enhance your business brand and over time lead to higher profitability.

By constantly training members of staff and wherever possible promoting from within the organisation will lead to employees that feel empowered to work harder and make better decisions. Having regards to the true well being of your employees will lead to a healthier and therefore happier workforce.

By reducing waste and promoting recycling at every opportunity, overheads will be reduced and in the longer term lead to better shareholder value. It is staggering how much resources including energy are wasted by larger companies. Having a regular energy audit and investing long term to reduce demand can only serve to make the business more efficient.

Many businesses try to serve their community by supporting local charities and sponsoring local people to better their lives. There are many ways to do this including education, sports and the environment. In the short term there will be very few perceivable benefits in terms of profitability but these actions will serve to enhance the business brand and increase profitability over the longer term.

Greed is no longer good and focusing purely on profits is unacceptable to your existing and potential customers. By embracing business ethics and social responsibility the business can benefit from increased goodwill.

Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal. This Business Franchise Opportunity is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss.

Business Franchises and UK Business Directory Business Franchise Opportunity

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Tags: business, ethics, articles, personal, professional

Thieves can be forgiven – even those who have stolen from God. Aren’t you glad?

Some people may not be aware that they can rob God. How is that done? There were those who actually asked God, “”How do we rob You?”" – and back came the answer, “”In tithes and offerings”".

Because God’s people were not giving a tenth of their income, plus offering offerings they brought the whole nation under a curse.

Giving a tenth of your income was the law at that particular time.

We are no longer under the law. We are free from the law when it comes to being right in the eyes of God, but surely that freedom does not mean we give less. We are now free to give more.

When Zacchaeus met Jesus Christ he realised he was a rogue. As a customs officer he had lined his own pocket. He had been a totally corrupt character, robbing God and robbing God’s people.

The transformation in Zacchaeus’ life is astonishing. Knowing he had been a cheat and a swindler, he had to put things right and make restitution. He told Jesus that he was going to give back to the people from whom he had stolen, four times what he had sinfully taken.

God says stealing is wrong.

Funds are misappropriated in various commercial and business undertakings – the United Nations ‘Oil for Food’ programme in Iraq being presently under scrutiny. Even charities occasionally discover people with their fingers in the till, and overseas aid money is mysteriously siphoned off.

There is little ‘love your neighbour’ when man behaves in such an abominable manner.

Corruption occurs because man is corrupt, and Jesus Christ comes to correct that consequence of The Fall.

We witnessed hasty undignified mass burials being broadcast on our news bulletins following the tsunami. Why were they necessary? To prevent the spread of disease.

The spiritual parallel is equally essential. When a man comes to faith in Jesus Christ he is a new creation. The old man should be buried. It is inappropriate, even offensive, to leave an unburied body lying around.

God teaches us that when we are baptised in water the old man is buried and we are then able to rise to live a new life.

New Testament believers regarded baptism as important and urgent, submitting themselves to God at the hands of men, as soon as they came to believe. That prison officer, and those in his home, who came to believe, did not even wait for dawn to break.

All God asks for is obedience. The condition is obedience in small things and great things, for the small things are as great as the great things. God usually presents the small matters before those matters which we might regard as great.

The man who is faithful in small matters is more likely to be found faithful in great matters. Those who are not reliable in little things are likely to be unreliable in big issues.

The size of the work or project is irrelevant. What matters is obedience, and when you obey you no longer evaluate what is trivial or important.

We are not good judges of what is small or big.

Jesus was baptised by John to fulfil all righteousness and He says, “”Follow me”". It is unwise to overlook what Jesus says.

Don’t dismiss some decisions as being unimportant. These might be key moments in God’s plan for you.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at this site entitled “”Word from Scotland”" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

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Tags: personal, ethics, code, professional, social

Processes are made to guide the execution of action, and invariably include approval checkpoints to ensure those actions were executed. While processes must be simplified and eventually automated, checkpoints are the real productivity killers.

On lack of trust and inefficiencies

Some are offended by what they consider a lack of trust, others are distressed by foiled acquisition of equipment that could make their work more efficient. I have been on both camps, but I eventually got over both feelings. The reason? Show me a person with some common sense and I will show you four other people who cannot tell what they need from what they want.

At the root of bureaucracy one will often find the need to control the usage of common resources, whether it is the approval for the construction of a wall or for the acquisition of a new network router. In a never ending loop, people in the “”I need the resource to do my job”" camp find ways around the processes and the bureaucracy responds with more control points. Bureaucracy thrives on the intersection of limited resources with resourceful people.

Executives and keyboard purchases

Remove all the control points, and you soon my have a tragedy of the commons on your hands.

Of course, the extreme case of a senior executive approving a US$200 purchase should be avoided. On the other hand, US$200 may be the cost of that matching set of keyboard, mouse, and speakers that look great with the replacement workstation you received last week.

Personal responsibility to the rescue

In the tragedy of the commons, the only known solution is to eliminate or reduce the “”commons”" in favor of personal ownership, whatever that resource may be. Karl Marx would not be proud.

Scott Adams once suggested, in the serious portion of his excellent “”The Dilbert Principle”", that companies actually gave money to employees for the purchase of office items instead of the traditional supply bins spread through the building. It would be up to employees to individually purchase the supplies they needed or keep the money. The actual amount is unimportant – the bean counters have all the numbers they need to calculate that amount – but the company would no longer need to burden administrative staff with those tasks.

The real question is, could one try and stretch that approach to personal laptops or desktop computers? In many geographies, the cost of these machines can rival the monthly salary of their users. What happens when you hand out the money for equipment that should last 3 years and the person leaves the company before that period is over? Impound whatever they bought or demand a refund?

Solve that riddle and the end of bureaucracy may be at hand.

Denilson Nastacio is a software engineer in a large corporation. Through years of experience observing the interactions between his colleagues, managers, and executives, he observed several repeating patterns drawn from science, religion, and politics.

He maintains a blog, called the RTP Scrolls, where he writes about the cyclic influence between individuals and organizations help explain how and why each side reacts to the actions of the other side.

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach continues to stress the importance of manners and to seeking advice on that issue and others. And I am pleased to confirm to you that I continue to follow my own advice by seeking outside advice and counsel when needed. In my own efforts for continuous improvement in manners, I recently did some research that resulted in me finding a great resource – a quiz to establish your Business Etiquette Quotient. The quiz was developed by Lydia Ramsey, a business etiquette expert, professional speaker, corporate trainer and author of Manners That Sell-Adding the Polish that Builds Profits. She has been quoted or featured in the New York Times, Investors’ Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Inc., Real Simple, and Woman’s Day. For more information about her programs, products and services, visit her Website

Here is Lydia Ramsey’s Quiz, answers and score interpretation.

1. When shaking hands in business, a man should wait for a woman to extend her hand before offering his.

2. When introducing business people, say the name of the most important or senior person first.

3. When talking on the phone, your tone of voice counts more than your words.

4. The first place to go when you arrive at a business/social function is the bar.

5. Women may remain seated to shake hands in business.

6. Business casual means dressing down one notch from business professional.

7. You should always use a subject header when sending an e-mail message.

8. The guest decides when to start talking business during the meal.

9. If the information on your business card is incorrect, draw a line through it and write the correct information on the card.

10. If you can’t remember someone’s name, don’t attempt an introduction.

11. Handwritten notes are out of place in the business world.

12. Name badges are worn on the right shoulder.

13. A woman’s handbag, if small, may be placed on the boardroom table.

14. Small talk is not appropriate in a business environment.

15. In today’s relaxed business environment, it is not necessary to ask your clients’ permission before using their first names.

Answers

1. False. It is no longer necessary for a man to wait for a woman to extend her hand. In business, everybody shakes hands regardless of gender or age.

2. True. Always say the name of the most important person first or the name of the person you wish to honor. Follow that with “”I’d like to introduce…”" or “”I’d like to introduce you to…”".

3. True. Studies show that 70% of your message is conveyed by your tone of voice and 30% by your actual words. It’s not what you say but the way you say it that counts.

4. False. No matter how hard your day was, resist the urge to go straight to the bar. After all, these business/social functions are more about business than eating and drinking.

5. False. A woman who remains seated to shake hands in business appears to lack confidence. She sends a message that she is not as important as the people who are standing.

6. True. Business casual did not start out as an excuse to wear your favorite old clothes to the office. It is still business, and you should always look professional.

7. True. Why would anyone want to open an e- mail message with “”no subject”"? You always want to give the recipient a reason to read your message.

8. False. The host is the one who decides when to end the small talk and get down to business. As a rule, the business discussion begins after everyone has ordered so the conversation will not be interrupted.

9. False. Have new cards printed as soon as possible. Handing out outdated business cards sends a poor message.

10. False. Always make the introduction. Everyone notices when you try to avoid it and will suspect that you can’t remember the other person’s name anyway. The best thing to do in this situation is to confess your loss of memory, beg forgiveness, and ask for the person’s name.

11. False. Handwritten notes are very impressive. They give the idea that you went to extra effort, whether this is true or not.

12. True. The right side is the correct side. Since you shake hands with your right hand, the eye naturally travels to the right shoulder.

13. False. The only objects that belong on the boardroom table are those that are necessary for the meeting.

14. False. Small talk is the basis for building and maintaining relationships in business.

15. False. While most people prefer to be called by their first name, use titles and last names until you are told otherwise.

What’s Your Score?

Give yourself one point for each correct answer. If your score is 13 points or higher, you are speeding up the ladder of success. (If you earned between 9 and 12 points, you’ll most likely make it to the top. If you scored 8 or below, chances are that you can climb the ladder, but you won’t make it all the way to the top.

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “”Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”" and has published more than 325 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site here

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Tags: workplace, ethics, business, training, professional