Virtue:
Sobriety
Other names:
Definition:
Appropriate enjoyment of alcoholic beverages; moderation in the use of alcoholic beverages
Advice:
Empirical Research:
Case examples:
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Further reading:
Vices opposed:
Drunkenness
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn her autobiography, Tough Choices, Carly Fiorina explains how she dealt with the male-dominated drinking culture of the business world early in her career while managing clients with David Godfrey at AT&T. "We met in bars a lot. In part it was because David liked to drink and in part it was because many of our customers wanted to get better acquainted in a relaxed setting. Really getting to know who they were dealing with was just as important to them as what we were talking about. Trust was important to business. Years later I learned that drinking rituals are an important part of doing business in many cultures, particularly in Asia. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but I drank gin and tonic, as David did. And as the night wore on, and my colleagues grew more comfortable, I would slip away to the bar and tell the bartender, 'From now on, anytime I order a gin and tonic, make it just tonic. And this is just between us.' I don’t think anyone ever figured it out. I was paying respect to our clients by letting them choose the settings in which we’d do business. And I was doing what was necessary to protect myself." (Fiorina, Tough Choices, ch. 5)