is irritation is relieved by speech. Afterward he passes on and probably
forgets all about the incident. Certainly he does not hold it against the
employee personally.

If, in addition to his other characteristics, this man also has a high
crown, he is inclined to be domineering and exacting. Since his whole
intention in his sharp speeches is to stimulate his employees to greater
efficiency, and since the farthest thing from his thoughts or his
intentions is to hurt their personal feelings, there is probably nothing
that will so quickly and thoroughly arouse his resentment as any
expression, word or act of wounded pride on the part of his employee.

Most employees make the serious mistake of taking criticism or censure as
a personal matter. They should reflect that their employer has no interest
in hurting their feelings--that what he wants is efficient service,
profitable not only to himself but to the employee, and that, according to
his type and his knowledge, he is taking the best possible means to secure
it.

When an employee enters an organization, he becomes an integral part of a
complicated service-rendering and profit-making machine. If he has any
tender personal feelings, he should wrap them up carefully in an envelope
of indifference and lock them away safely in the strong box of ambition.
Then he is perfectly willing to let his employer call him a blockhead,
provided the result is increased efficiency and profit.

TOO MUCH DIGNITY

A young man of our acquaintance once went to work as assistant to the
manager of an insurance company. This young man was quiet, hard-working,
dependable, and efficient. With his self-effacing modesty and the
remarkable accuracy and care with which he attended to every detail of his
work, he would have made an ideal assistant to most employers. The manager
of this insurance company, however, was jovial, friendly, social, witty,
and companionable. At first he was delighted with his new assistant. As
time went on, however, the young man's solemnity, his taciturnity, and the
quiet, dignified way in which he permitted all attempts at sociability and
jocularity to pass over his head, as it were, unnoticed, began to get on
his employer's nerves.

"If I don't get that young man out of the office, I will either murder him
or commit suicide," he told us. "Efficient? Lord, yes! I never knew
anybody so damnably efficient. Dependable? He is so dependable that he is
uncanny. I would rath