Protocol is the modern currency of relationships
By
Jean Paul Wyers, director of the Institute of Protocol The Hague
The Dutch
and protocol; it is an ambiguous relationship. For many, protocol
stands for unnecessary formalities but in my view protocol holds the future. Leaders
and managers can only survive with a good network and by knowing the right
people. In The Grant Study researchers came to a similar conclusion; “It is the capacity for
relationships that predicted flourishing. Culture has become more attuned to
the power of relationships”.
The need
for a good network has created the need for good network management, or
protocol management as we call it. A State
Visit is much more than a meeting of two Heads of State. At all levels
meaningful meetings are planned and protocol is used to structure all this. The
private sector has the same need for meaningful meetings and thus for protocol
management.
There is
another reason why protocol has a future. Time has become a luxury. Personal time is the greatest good we can give to
someone. It is the modern currency of
relationships.
For example
Banks divide their personal attention into several groups of customers: retail,
preferred banking, private banking and private wealth management. The more interesting
you are to the bank, the more personal attention is given to you.
Modern
protocol management offers an efficient and effective way of managing a
network. It optimises
those few moments of personal contact and maximises the
added value that personalised attention can bring. Modern protocol officers are vital to the
successful management of a network.
The classic
protocol officers will cease to exist, because they put the rules of protocol
first. A modern protocol officer understands the greater picture, the goal of
the meeting and even the strategy of the organisation. He or she is an expert
in translating this into a different protocol every time. Modern protocol
management is not only about protocol rules; it is about analysing, translating
and finally applying.
At the
Institute of Protocol The Hague this has always been our vision. The ambiguous
relationship the Dutch have
with protocol may have provided us with some challenges, but it also resulted in a modern
view on protocol.
Read more about the vision of the Institute on modern protocol: the new postgraduate on relational leadership 'Strategic Relationship Management'.
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