Business Etiquette This book teaches individuals how to represent their

Question:
I attend many company functions at which
the spouses of my clients and colleagues are invited. One

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153
Common Questions
of my best clients actually chose to leave our firm and do
business with a competitor because he perceived me as flirt-
ing with his spouse at our holiday gathering! (In fact, I wasn’t
flirting with anyone.) How could I have avoided this?
Answer:
Natural, enthusiastic, outgoing behavior can
be misconstrued as romantic interest in another person. The
situation you describe is not at all uncommon. People at
parties often try to throw the limelight on the persons they
know the least well. This is a fine instinct, but in situations
such as the one you describe, it’s not a good idea to pay as
much (or more) attention to a spouse when there’s the po-
tential for misinterpretation.
Tip #111
Tip #111
Tip #111
Tip #111
Tip #111
Save the love notes for after hours.
Save the love notes for after hours.
Save the love notes for after hours.
Save the love notes for after hours.
Save the love notes for after hours.
Question:
Two unmarried colleagues in our office be-
gan a romance. On most fronts, they handled their personal
relationship in a very discreet manner. However, they re-
cently committed a 
faux pas
that has made their relation-
ship known to everyone in the company. One of them
decided to woo and coo the other by sending a love note on
the company e-mail system. The message was mistakenly
transmitted to an entire address group! Any thoughts on
how this could have been handled better?
Answer:
Sure—save the company e-mail system for
business use only. Unless you’re looking forward to a dress-
ing down from the CEO, save the wooing and cooing for
personal time. And remember, many e-mail systems keep
track of every message sent, whether or not the message is
regarded as confidential in nature. If you don’t want Mr. or
Ms. Bigshot reading the message, don’t send it out on the
company e-mail system.

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154
Business Etiquette
Use business tools for business. Save love letters for
after-hours!
Tip #112
Tip #112
Tip #112
Tip #112
Tip #112
Stand tall.
Stand tall.
Stand tall.
Stand tall.
Stand tall.