How Jerks Ruin the Workplace and Business too

“Who do you want to be?“

Whether you know it  or not, you’re answering it through your actions. This defines your professional success more than any other. How you show up and treat people means everything.

Incivility & Rudeness

What is incivility? It means rudeness. Small, rude actions can lead to much bigger problems like aggression and violence. Rudeness affects performance and the bottomline.

Porath and Pearson made a survey and found out that rudeness makes people less motivated.

According to them, it’s not only those who are affected by act of rudeness that suffer, people who witness these acts also suffer in performance.

Rudeness is contagious virus and isn’t confined to the workplace. It affects emotions, motivation, performance and how we treat others. It also affects our attention and absorbs our brainpower.

Acts of rudeness affect us even in text. People who receive rude messages are more likely to miss information right in front of them on the computer screen. It takes longer for them to make decisions and they make significantly more errors.

Why are People Rude?

The number one reason why people are often rude is stress. The other reason is that people are rude because they’re skeptical and concerned about appearing nice. They believe that if they act nice, they’ll appear less leader-like. It’s a mindset similar to “nice guys finish last.”

But this isn’t true, McCall & Lombardo found out that the number one reason why managements fail is an insensitive rude or bullying style. 

Civility & Respect Pays

For nice people, civility does pay. Being civil means doing the small things, like smiling and saying hi in the hallway.

Why does civility pay? Because people will see you as important and powerful, unique combination of warm and competent, friendly and smart. Being civil or nice isn’t just about motivating others.

The one thing people want the most from their bosses is respect. Those that feel respected are healthier, more focused, more likely to stay with their company and far more engaged.

So where do you start? Well it doesn’t take a lot. Small things make a huge difference. Start by thanking people, sharing credit, listening attentively, humbly asking questions, acknowledging others and smiling.

Civility lifts people. We’ll get people to give more and function at their best if we’re civil. Rudeness robs people of their potential and performance.

We can do better. Be mindful and take actions to support others around us whether at work or home. In every interaction, think, who do you want to be?