{"id":7993,"date":"2018-12-05T11:43:47","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T16:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opsweb.wpengine.com\/?p=7993"},"modified":"2021-07-01T11:48:59","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:48:59","slug":"does-it-really-pay-to-be-civil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/does-it-really-pay-to-be-civil\/","title":{"rendered":"Does it really pay to be civil?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-pps-gutenberg-blocks-multi-column multi-column-wrapper columns-rightQuarter\" data-column-count=\"2\" data-column-layout=\"rightQuarter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-ted wp-block-embed-ted wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Christine Porath: Why being respectful to your coworkers is good for business\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.ted.com\/talks\/christine_porath_why_being_respectful_to_your_coworkers_is_good_for_business\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We live in a divisive time. Career federal leaders often find themselves caught in between their duties to the American people and their need to cooperate with stakeholders in the White House and on Capitol Hill who may have competing priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of this tense environment, it\u2019s important for federal leaders to model civility. Showing respect and kindness isn\u2019t only the right thing to do\u2014it\u2019s also effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Studies by the Center for Creative Leadership show that the number one characteristic associated with executive failure is \u201can insensitive, abrasive or bullying style.\u201d The third is \u201caloofness or arrogance.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Power can force compliance, but disrespect or insensitivity by someone wielding power can sabotage support. If incivility works at all, it\u2019s usually effective in the short term but not for building enduring leadership success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve learned that how you treat people determines whether they will build relationships with you, trust you, follow you, support you and work hard for you. Respectful people usually collaborate more easily, in part because they have more people willing to collaborate with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our research has shown that people viewed as civil tend to occupy more important positions. <a href=\"https:\/\/rework.withgoogle.com\/blog\/how-civility-matters-for-you-and-your-network\/\">They connect ideas, information and people, and they cross boundaries more effectively in organizations<\/a>. More respectful people reap a windfall of networking and personal benefits, whereas those seen as uncivil get shut out of networks and all the benefits that come with them, such as information, advice and career opportunities. In <a href=\"https:\/\/rework.withgoogle.com\/blog\/how-civility-matters-for-you-and-your-network\/\">one study I did<\/a>, participants were far more likely to recommend a civil person for a job than an uncivil person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Civil behavior pays off in other ways, too. Studies I performed with Alexandra Gerbasi at the University of Exeter in England and Sebastian Schorch at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia  showed that people tend to associate civility\u2014defined in this study as treating someone respectfully and with dignity, politeness or pleasantry\u2014with being a leader. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/25798552\">a study we did at a biotechnology firm<\/a>, those seen as civil were twice as likely to be viewed as leaders than those deemed uncivil, and they performed 13 percent better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=py4P8b4t3DI\">yes, civility pays. Nice people don\u2019t finish last\u2014they finish best<\/a>.  Given the enormous cost of incivility\u2014and the power of civility\u2014it\u2019s in your best interest, and your organization\u2019s, to master civility. Being kind will manifest in connections, influence and effectiveness. My research confirms that small behaviors,  such as thanking people, listening attentively, humbly asking questions, acknowledging others, sharing credit or smiling, can give you a performance boost. The converse\u2014seemingly insignificant acts of incivility\u2014can cost you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n[For more on the research, please see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/christine_porath_why_being_nice_to_your_coworkers_is_good_for_business?language=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"[For more on the research, please see this TED talk.] (opens in a new tab)\">this TED talk.<\/a>]\n\n\n\n<p><em>Christine Porath is the author of &#8220;Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace&#8221; and a professor at Georgetown University\u2019s McDonough School of Business. She is a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/programs\/government-leadership-advisory-council\/\">Government Leadership Advisory Council<\/a>, a group of experts and champions informing the Partnership&#8217;s leadership development strategy. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to receive updates on the Partnership&#8217;s leadership programs and initiatives, please subscribe to our email list.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-pps-gutenberg-blocks-button pps-button rectangular_with_border with-none\" target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/b3bg1L\" data-label=\"Subscribe\" data-color=\"#ffffff\" data-color-opacity=\"100\" data-bg-color=\"#00588e\" data-bg-color-opacity=\"100\" data-graphic-position=\"before\" data-button-style=\"rectangular_with_border\" data-graphic-type=\"none\" data-type-of-url=\"page\" data-icon=\"\" style=\"color:#ffffff;border:1px solid #ffffff;background-color:#00588e\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span>Subscribe<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Photo: TED<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We live in a divisive time. Career federal leaders often find themselves caught in between their duties to the American people and their need to cooperate with stakeholders in the White House and on Capitol Hill who may have competing priorities. Regardless of this tense environment, it\u2019s important for federal leaders to model civility. Showing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":11326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sort-date":"","content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7594],"tags":[9213,9212,9048,9214],"class_list":["post-7993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-collaboration","tag-center-for-creative-leadership","tag-civility","tag-leadership","tag-workplace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v26.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Does it really pay to be civil? &#8226; Partnership for Public Service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christine Porath, one of the Partnership\u2019s Government Leadership Advisory Council members, has advice for federal leaders: Practice civility and show respect. 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