How to succeed in business relationships

This afternoon I had the pleasure of giving a short presentation at our university's directors meeting.

On tax.

Yeah, it was about that exciting. But it was also very brief - less than five minutes - and injected with as much humor as the subject allows.

At the end of the meeting, one of the participants approached me, admitting she was one of the people I've had to call a few times with corrections to some transactions. She offered one of the best compliments I could get: "Even when you call to tell me I'm wrong, you aren't intimidating or unkind."

There is a graceful way to tell people they've made an error, one that encourages ongoing cooperation and consideration. It amazes me that a certain subset of businesspeople still go all wrath-of-god over small infractions and errors. There are certainly circumstances that call for firm discipline, but even that can be done in a way that doesn't belittle the wrong doer, but aims for remediation and restoration.

A soft answer not only turns away wrath, but keeps it from arising in the first place.