Gentle Manners, Hard Work

For the last few days I’ve kept returning to the Corporate Culture statement at Ogilvy & Mather (yes, that Ogilvy). There is, of course, a lot of common sense information in there for businesses of any size. But there’s also some in there that applies to how we should handle ourselves, treat others and generally act in a community.

My favorite section is “What We Admire in People.” Here are the first two paragraphs:

We admire people who speak their minds. At the same time we admire people who listen more than they talk, and make a real effort to understand views that differ from their own. Candor is a virtue; arrogance is not.

We admire people who work hard, who are objective and thorough. Lazy and superficial men and women do not produce superior work.

This goes as much for an advertising agency as it does for an online community of web designers and developers. Especially the part about candor and arrogance.

Read the entire Corporate Culture document at the Ogilvy & Mather website.