RULE 21: Be Cool

At work you should retain your cool at all times and, no matter what, never ever lose your dignity. If there’s an office costume party, you can laugh and joke with everyone else, but let them do the dressing up. You remain apart from all that office nonsense. Will this get you a reputation as standoffish? Arrogant? Self-important? Not if you’re a Rules Player, because you’ll know the Rules to make sure people admire, like, and respect you, without the need to dress up as Elvis or a fairy or whatever the theme is this year. Stay cool at all times. Give generously, support the cause, but leave the red noses for others to wear—at least when you’re at work. Remain civilized and sophisticated at all times.

Let’s face it, you are there to do a job. That’s what they pay you for. You ain’t there to make a fool of yourself. Just so long as you do that job—and do it well—the way you do it is up to you. You can choose to get involved in the social side of the office, or you can remain one step removed. This makes you one step away from your colleagues and thus one step nearer to being their manager.

None of this means you can’t have a laugh and joke with your coworkers; just don’t get so friendly or personal that it would become impossible to promote you above them. If you are going to be their boss soon, then it pays to keep a little bit of distance. And you do this by being cool.

If you don’t know what cool is, try typing cool into your word processor and then, using the Thesaurus option, look for antonyms. You get: warm, excited, unfashionable. For warm,think sweaty hands—uncool. For excited, think small boy on Christmas Day—cute but uncool. For unfashionable think chunky cardigans—warm and uncool.

So we want to be
• Not warm—think not sweaty.
• Not excited—think not panicked.
• Not unfashionable—this isn’t the same as fashionable but rather a timeless stylishness, which is, of course, completely different.

Cool operators are relaxed and in control. In a crisis they don’t rush about screaming, but rather implement safety procedures and calmly and smoothly handle the situation. They are cool. They keep their heads and their composure. And invariably these are the people who others will turn to in a difficult situation. You don’t want someone who panics; you want someone cool, calm, and collected.

REMAIN CIVILIZED AND SOPHISTICATED AT ALL TIMES.