Politeness is about mechanics.
Schopenhauer said, “Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.”
Let that melt in your mind.
Politeness doesn’t just soften—it shapes.
It creates possibility.
It makes people pliable, not in a manipulative sense, but in a cooperative one.
In a multifamily, you are not managing buildings.
You are managing expectations, emotions, and exchanges of trust.
Politeness is the grease in the gears.
It lowers the temperature of conflict before it starts.
Residents don’t leave over a broken dishwasher.
They leave over how they were treated when they reported it.
Team-members don’t burn out because work is hard.
They burn out because people are hard on them.
Don’t mistake politeness with weakness.
It’s powerfully strategic.
It takes intentional practice to deploy under pressure.
It also has echoic memory.
You remember the person who made you feel seen. Heard. Valued.
A culture of sharp edges leads to dull outcomes.
So what does this mean for your community?
It means leading with kindness isn’t weakness.
It’s operational intelligence.
It means greeting maintenance with the same energy as you greet your investor.
Politeness creates conditions for action.
It disarms resistance.
It invites feedback.
It inspires accountability.
It builds the trust you can’t fake.
And trust is the currency of occupancy, retention, and brand reputation.
Without politeness, your policies don’t matter.
With it, even your mistakes gain grace.