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228 ILLUSTRATED WORLD
clippings or items of information likely to
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And it is no secret that much of the
"royal memory" which brings popularity
to king or emperor is based on systematic
recording and indexing. The subjects
of a nation are the "customers" of the
king, and in treating everyone with
whom he comes in contact as an individual
of importance, he is carrying into
another sphere of life a principle which
has helped many a business man to success.
Tact—that little word which bulks so
large in human relationships—is in
essence a knowledge of human nature
applied in daily life.
There are those who are born with
intuitive understanding of the right thing
to do or say; there are many others who
have deliberately trained themselves.
Tact is unquestionably trainable. It follows
on the systematic endeavor to understand
the other man's point of view ;
to regard it sympathetically even if one
does not agree with it; to be prepared to
make the minor concessions readily and
cheerfully. To be tactful does not mean
that one sacrifices one's principles or
habitually gives more than one receives.
It means the conceding of those little
points which count for so much with
average humanity.
Very often the ambitious young man
fails to realize the importance of cultivating
tact. Possessing cleverness, he
assumes that others will recognize and
defer to brains. But, on the contrary,
average humanity resents cleverness.
The leaders it loves and follows are those
who make no claim to be other than
common clay. As Kipling phrased it in
his splendid poem on leadership:
. and yet not look too good nor talk too
wise."
I was once discussing with a railway
manager the question of the scope for an
ambitious young man in the head offices
of a railway company. He said : "When
we are promoting, we rank initiative
before knowledge, and tact before
brains." He proceeded to expand that
theme. A man's working-day, he pointed
out, consists of eight or ten hours. However
clever he may be, his brain-output is
inexorably limited by time. But the less
clever and more tactful man can get
others to follow his line of thought and
carry out his plans with loyalty and harmony.
He can multiply himself in the
work of other men. He can thus create
for himself a working-day of fifty, a
hundred, a thousand hours. It was a
forcible illustration of the administrative
value of tact.
For the young man in business, it is
a most valuable character exercise to test
how far he can make his personal influence
extend. Whether he can persuade
others to work in harmony With him.
Whether he can get ready service from
subordinates. Whether he can "make
friends" quickly and easily. If he cannot
do so, it is a sure sign that he is wanting
in tactfulness, and a warning that in the
future his administrative influence may
be very limited unless he can acquire tact.
An immensely valuable training can be
secured if a young man is privileged to
work in the same office and within sight
and hearing of a tactful chief. The
"open - office" system is not usual in England,
though in America, for instance, it
is a commonplace of business. There are,
however, instances in England where a
farsighted business man who wishes to
train his subordinates allows them to
watch how he handles his callers.
Human nature is not a "book" subject
It cannot be learnt in the simple routine
manner of the student at college or technical
institute. On the other hand, its
study is free to all without expense. The
volume of life is open. Its teachings are
ubiquitous. Its laboratory is the whole
world.
Study the workings of the minds of
men and women ; endeavor to understand
their points of view with a tolerant sympathy
; learn to concede those minor
points which otherwise would make friction
like dust in machinery; and you will
acquire the most important mental asset
for success in business life.