My attempt to stave off email bankruptcy is not only going pretty well -- I am down to 135 emails to deal with -- I just found a gem from a couple months back that forgot to write about here.  A reader who asked to described as "Carolyn in Austin, Texas" wrote me nice note about The No Asshole Rule and especially emphasized that she liked my assertion in Chapter 1 that "The difference between how a person treats the powerless versus the powerful is as good a measure of human character as I know. "

Carolyn suggested a second test that I just love.  In fact, let's call it Carolyn's Rule:

You can determine someone's character by how quickly they realize they've made a mistake and how readily they admit it.

Not bad, huh? It makes me think of one colleague I've know from nearly 30 years who has never admitted a mistake -- even in multiple cases where it is clear this person has made big mistakes, has damaged other people, and it would be best for all concerned.  Indeed, as I implied over at HBR, Carolyn's Rule is also a good test of a boss's skill.