“Nothing personal, it’s business…”

by Corium Outplacement, Italy

At a time in history when instant messaging didn’t go through Whatsapp and Telegram, when social networks didn’t exist and to connect to the Internet you had to have a 56K modem and wait for minutes on end listening to that sound that now echoes only in the ears of #Boomers and #Millennials, there were Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the very famous 1998 You’ve Got Mail, showing us how to chat.

Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox, both New Yorkers, join a chatroom and in complete anonymity, thanks to pseudonyms. She owns a small children’s book store, he is a successful businessman, the son of a bookstore chain tycoon.

In one of their communications Kathleen confides that her business is going badly: a major bookstore chain is jeopardizing the survival of her small “Shop Around the Corner,” so she seeks advice from her anonymous friend, not knowing that he is precisely the one responsible for her problems.

Joe, not knowing that his anonymous friend is the embattled owner of the “Shop Around the Corner,” responds with the famous quote, from the movie The Godfather, “Go to the mattresses, nothing personal…it’s business.”

“Nothing personal, it’s business…you have to tell yourself that every time you feel you lose heart.”

At certain times in one’s working life it is necessary to make difficult decisions, to make choices that cause unpleasant consequences and affect other people’s lives. It would be nice to always be able to put people’s well-being ahead of business goals, but the reality is that this is often not possible. Deciding to cut jobs, for example, is often just an economic matter but becomes personal for all those people who are affected by a reorganization, people who have given so much to their work and who experience the choice as a punishment.

Does repeating to yourself “Nothing personal, it’s business” help mitigate the negative emotions of those making the decision and those affected by it?

Share this post

Contact Us

Via WebForm:

Via eMail: info@arboraglobal.com

Via phone: +44 (0) 7752 450962 

Via LinkedIn: Arbora-Global-Career-Partners

Or find your regional partner:EMEA, Americas, Asia Pacific