In any society or community, who you are shows in how you behave and also how you appear to others. How you look, talk, walk, sit, stand, eat and even how you feel, the sum of how you present yourself, will always speak volumes about who you are and what impression you have on others.

This is not only true in your personal life but, your professional life as well. In recent times people have become less and less conscious of good manners due to decline in human interaction in this era of the high-tech workplace and the fact that business in general is becoming less impersonal. As a result of this, people are becoming less concerned about the ramifications of their actions.

But still, in this new age, a successful career does not come to those who have worked the longest or hardest, nor to those who have the most impressive resume. Also many companies are unwilling to send someone to the front line unless they have a little polish, style, and finesse. This is the new competitive edge.

In today's business world, the decision of a corporate takeover, the leveraged buyout, and the initial public offering are all also determined by one overriding instinct: survival. Which means that to be more competitive on the job market any professional needs to be very conversant with Business and social etiquette. The simple reason being that confidence and good manners STILL wins the 'game.'

The story still circulates that a major computer manufacturer blew a million dollar deal because, when presented with his Japanese host's business card, he never even looked at it and stuffed it in his back pocket. That certainly is bad manners.