George Washington and The Rules

If you follow other things I've written, you know I'm a fan of Rules. Or rather, lists of Rules. My list of professional rules, somewhat inspired by Gibb's Rules (from NCIS), my Leadership Rules from the Ancient Greeks. Fred Harvey, creator of one of the earliest travel companies and the first US restaurant chain, and his rules. Rules give us things to fall back on when it's unclear how to proceed.

Recently I took a tour of Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, and saw that he had his own rules, cribbed from 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, which is based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595.

I was sufficiently intrigued by Washington's history and the manner in which people respected him, that I realized I did not know enough about him. Washington was widely respected for that quality we refer to today as "gravitas". As a result I am reading David McCullough's 1776, which so far is good fun and highly informative. (I'm running a public reading on my social reading app Bookship, tap the link below to join me!)

The Rules are good fun and a quick read (the complete list is here: https://www.foundationsmag.com/civility.html).

Some of them are from another age. Some of them are laugh-out-loud funny ("When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usually Discovered.", "In the Presence of Others Sing not to yourself with a humming Noise, nor Drum with your Fingers or Feet.").

Some of them are wildly topical - masks and social distancing, anyone? ("If You Cough, Sneeze, Sigh, or Yawn, do it not Loud but Privately; and Speak not in your Yawning, but put Your handkerchief or Hand before your face and turn aside.", "Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs roll not the Eyes lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your Spittle, by approaching too near him when you Speak.")

Some management lessons are to be found:

• Being to advise or reprehend any one, consider whether it ought to be in public or in Private; presently, or at Some other time in what terms to do it & in reproving Show no Sign of Cholar but do it with all Sweetness and Mildness.
• Wherein you reprove Another be unblameable yourself; for example is more prevalent than Precepts.
• Never express anything unbecoming, nor Act against the Rules Moral before your inferiors.
• Detract not from others neither be excessive in Commanding.
• Undertake not what you cannot Perform but be Careful to keep your Promise.
• Let thy carriage be such as becomes a Man Grave Settled and attentive to that which is spoken. Contradict not at every turn what others Say.

And lastly a few good reminders of personal behavior, not unlike things Marcus Aurelius might say.

• Let your Conversation be without Malice or Envy, for 'is a Sign of a Tractable and Commendable Nature: And in all Causes of Passion admit Reason to Govern.
• Speak not injurious Words neither in Jest nor Earnest Scoff at none although they give Occasion.
• Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

The rules are a quick read, even if many of them are from another age. Good fun. And since there's an election coming up, I'll leave you with a view into Washington's campaign tactics :)