I doubt that too many of presently operating Hungarian business leaders would rank protocol knowledge as something of top priority on their list of essentials to leadership. I also wonder if they think protocol can contribute to the success of their business in any sense. But it surely does. According to the saying ‘who falls behind stays behind’: opening a window on the importance of protocol in business is a must by now and stands not only for global companies. Smartfluencer, the first Hungarian Speakers Bureau decided to invite a protocol expert already into their starting speakers’ panel. I believe that she can ignite the interest of many leaders working in business which may easily become contagious in a country where this type of business mindset is still a rarity.
It was years ago when a shift had started: people’s information consumption had moved away from reading credible and prestigious newspapers to easily consumed content of social media. By now, compared to the years before the appearance of social media, press shrunk to only one third as the source of our info consumption. The arrival of memes, gifs, or the immense torrent of individual content in people’s newsfeed resulted in that even the more sophisticated population started to move away from consuming informative content and they rather turned towards the more easily comprehensible ones that can entertain them. Can anyone blame them for doing this? Can you blame a river that evades the cliff and runs in the valley? That’s the rule of nature. Humans as well as rivers, choose the easier way. It is not social media we have to exclude from our life, it is the way we process and share information which should be changed to a more exciting and entertaining one.
Napoleon or Churchill would have lost the wars if they had only ’shared’ the necessary information. Bill Gates or Simon Sinek had become successful because they could make an influence on their audience. Good speakers are the key to sharing information in an entertaining way. Speakers own the impetus, mission, knowledge and rhetoric skills and these skills enable them to ignite people, employees and business leaders to regain their curiosity and enthusiasm for thoughts and real knowledge. Smartfluencer Speakers Bureau was established to offer this type of knowledge-sharing and motivation both for Hungarians and for anyone from the world who would be interested to hear the authentic voices of outstanding Hungarian speakers. With the help of Smartfluencer, anyone can get to know a bright selection of minds – be them motivational or discovery speakers, or as we named them after their smart mind and capability to influence: smartfluencers.
Apart from education where there is an obvious need for motivational ’speakers’, it is the companies, public institutions, associations and other similar organisations where sharing knowledge with the highest efficiency is a burning desire. Business drivers and motives for winning entail the need for smart influencers who can shake the leaders and employees up and encourage them for leveraging themselves day by day. Olympians can motivate you or help you to achieve increasing team spirit. Economic or ICT experts can take you on a journey which opens doors to different aspects that may help you jump out of the track of thoughts you had been trapped into. We believe that protocol experts also have their importance in terms of business efficiency.
Diplomatic etiquette as a term usually exists in business leaders’ vocabulary when it is about to meet a diplomat, or when lobbying, meeting a representative of foreign affairs, visiting the embassy of another country. But diplomatic etiquette can be comprehended in a more extended way than this.
Business protocol is an extremely important aspect of the formation of relationships within a company
and between companies. Protocol can be defined as the proper procedure of conduct. There are many different protocols necessary between different countries and similar care should be taken at all times in business. This will lead to a positive image for your company as part of the society, a business partner or employer, as well as for your employees.
Do we even know how many times we’ve left a bad impression on someone because we don’t know the commonly-accepted ‘rules of etiquette’? Some people call it common sense but the problem with common sense is that we all have a different definition of what that means. Don’t make another misstep! Learn what business etiquette experts – along with top business executives –recommend as the way to conduct yourself at work: with your boss, co-workers, and clients or customers!
Etiquette and protocol are one of the main components of forming the image of any business person, civil servant or organisation and play a very important role in the successful conduct of business, including in an international environment.
Earlier, the bases of protocol practices were studied only by representatives of diplomatic circles, whereas now this knowledge became essential for the business community as well. Successful operation inside and outside the organisation depend to a great extent on the well-defined rules of protocol and etiquette. Business etiquette can sound like it focuses on small things that are not so important on their own, but altogether they make a big difference to the workplace and the kind of responses received in all areas.
Let’s take a typical example when a U.S. company from the ICT sector decides to open a branch in Hungary to leverage Hungarian IT experts’ knowledge and benefit from the good ROI that they can earn on such an investment. Before they start their operation, they are advised to meet a very qualified consultant who can help them introduce the company to the key Hungarian opinion leaders so that they can formulate an image of a long-term thinking, reliable participant of the Hungarian scene. The meeting was arranged, everything went well. But after the first assignment the consultant did not want to continue the cooperation. They did not understand. Later, they managed to investigate what reasons lied behind his behaviour. It turned out that he got offended when they did not accept the gift he wanted to give them on the occasion of their first visit. Hungarians are emotional people, it is the sign of their kindness and trust. On the other hand, Americans are considering gifts as a kind of bribe and they never accept them. If there was a protocol expert on any sides this wouldn’t happen. When we recognised the need for this type of knowledge in business, we decided to reach out to Ms. Nikoletta Hossó, a well-known and respected expert of diplomatic, ecclesiastical and sport protocol.
Fortunately, Ms. Hossó had similar experiences about this ‘blind spot’ in terms of business sectors. Having recognised the importance of embedding protocol and etiquette into business running know-how, we easily found the common ground and formulated the topics of her discovery speeches.
Some seem to show interest already before the launch of the webpage and the service provided by Smartfluencer.
If we could acquire the know-how of business etiquette and prepare accordingly for future events, meetings, and introductions, our chances of presenting ourselves in a favourable manner will significantly improve. Our definite intention with Ms. Hossó’s invitation into the starting team, is to draw attention to the need of this knowledge among the indispensable business skills and make people recognise the several interdisciplinary connections that protocol has with business: cultural integrity, leadership, diversity, and on top the overall reputation of a company. And we all know that in a society where business can only survive if it integrates there remain no question that protocol has its well-deserved place.
For more information: Smartfluencer.hu
