Our TED Talk recommendation this month is by Christine Porath, who provides insight into the importance of civility in the workplace, and the damaging and costly affects of incivility.

Christine defines incivility as “disrespect or rudeness,” and she emphasizes that “how you show up and treat people means everything.” She goes on to define civility, stating that: “Being truly civil means doing the small things, like smiling and saying hello in the hallway, listening fully when someone’s speaking to you.”

These definitions were followed by several examples of businesses functioning in incivility versus civility. One example told of how the CEO of Cambell’s Soup Company, Doug Conat, was able to turn the company around through encouragement of civility.

“It was all about these touch points, or these daily interactions he had with employees, whether in the hallway, in the cafeteria or in meetings,” said Doug, “and if he handled each touch point well, he’d make employees feel valued.”

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) August 2019 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.