Good Manners Will Open Doors That The Best Education Cannot

Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot. – Justice Clarence Thomas

So true. Marvelous manners can open doors to so many wonderful professional and personal opportunities. Manners can take you anywhere worth going. To be marvelously well-mannered, you need to know the rules of door etiquette.

Doors. Socially, it’s still acceptable for a man to open and hold the door for a lady, but so too may a lady hold a door open for a man. The business etiquette rule for doors is that you hold the door for whomever comes behind you – lady or gentleman, regardless of whether they have their hands full. It is so disheartening to see someone go through the door and let it close without bothering to check if someone is behind them. Ladies, if you are in a business setting and a man does open the door for you, smile and say, “thank you”. Yes, you can handle a door all by yourself, but we really see no need to reject someone’s attempt at common courtesy toward you by saying, “No, I have it.”

Revolving Doors. It’s polite to ask to go through the door first so that you may push the door for the other person. This is a great way to show confidence and kindness, particularly in business, where gender doesn’t matter. You should push the revolving door for clients, bosses and we think, anyone who could use an extra hand. Make sure you watch the pace of the door pushing so the other person can easily keep up. Remember, the revolving door scene in Elf? Don’t do that! And one person per revolving door compartment, unless the door is clearly made to accommodate multiple people in each compartment.

Elevator Doors. The rule is finite and easy. Let those off the elevator first before you get on the elevator. It makes sense, doesn’t it? But often, people rush the doors for some reason. Be marvelously well-mannered and wait for the doors to open and quickly check to see if anyone needs to exit. If they do, step aside (never stand smack dab in front of opening elevator doors). Once everyone is off, step onto the elevator and press your button. Again, don’t emulate Will Ferrell in the movie, Elf, where he pushed every floor button in the Empire State Building. Who knew that movie had so many teachable moments on etiquette!

Have a marvelous week -