Ethics and Etiquette are two distinct yet interconnected essential aspects of professional settings. Despite their inevitable importance in making or breaking a business, these have either been neglected to their worst or addressed only to the theoretical part.
Phyllis Davis has been closely observing workplace settings for over forty years. She has become an authority in the realm of business ethics and etiquette. She’s been renowned in the field, serving as a speaker, corporate trainer, and authoring books.
Phyllis has traveled millions of miles, meeting professionals across America, and every instance has added to her knowledge and experience. Meanwhile, she has also witnessed the shifts in corporate culture throughout her journey. As a result, she has mastered both individual and collective behaviors in business settings, which makes her the Sherlock Holmes of business conduct.
Instead of accidentally falling into the field and then deciding to take hold of it, Phyllis willingly decided to dive deep into the evolving subject, intending to explore it to its never-sought-before territories. Surprisingly, the dry-sounding field of study inspired a lot of amusement – including everything about human behavior, its natural responses, and the outcomes those behavioral responses led to.
Navigating Virtue: Ethics and Etiquette in the American Business Landscape, her soon-to-be-published and awaited book in queue, is all about determining professional/business settings as truly professional. Nothing short of a compact encyclopedia of the subject, it addresses every possible aspect of the corporate world.
Beginning with handshakes, their types, and what messages they covertly (even without one’s own knowledge of it) convey, the book proceeds to communication skills, addressing every relevant bit of it. Moving further, it navigates into a deeper sea to seek the pearls of communication ethics and dining manners. So, it may also be used as a guide beyond mere business settings, though not intended for that.
Since etiquette alone fails to suffice for serving the said purpose, there’s a whole separate Part-II solely addressing ethics. It shares Phyllis’ insights on issues such as:
Despite spending more time at work than you spend with your family and friends, it does not turn your colleagues into family or personal circle. So, ethically, professional and personal life must have a clearly defined line to separate the two for serving well in both contexts.
Moreover, Phyllis suggests some working solutions to the illiteracy issue in America, which costs companies billions every year. She also shares some guidelines for managers, highlighting the ethical approaches to dealing with their teammates, including trust, motivation, inclusivity, and ethical standards.
Furthermore, the range of its topics includes, but is not confined to, the art of networking, team building, skill-setting, and whatnot.
Meanwhile, the chapters on Training and Risk provide profound comedic relief, making the seemingly rough subject a source of fun. By concluding the book with Ethics Pledges, she ensures that you take lessons on trust, longevity, and sustainable success so as to get the most out of them.
The book can be used to educate business undergraduates and to elevate individual professional standards to achieve desired career growth. In short, it is a mantra for professional excellence that aids in achieving success, provided one adheres to its suggested practices.
What makes Navigating Virtue different from all those books available on the market is that, instead of copying the same old stuff and fashioning it differently, it is solely based on the author’s firsthand experience, which is further blended with an observational and analytical approach before concluding on each of so many topics.
In other words, Phyllis has collected, tested, and proofed all the lessons of her professional life before presenting them in the finest way. So, it is a life’s learning of over four decades compressed into a book form, mainly aiming to guide those willing to find their way to the desired destinations.
Published by: Nelly Chavez
