Category: Uncategorized

Overcome the Holiday Blues

Do we find ourselves frowning most of the day? This time of year holiday pressures seem to leave us in a foul mood. We find ourselves losing control of our day because there is so much to do. We have shopping, cooking, cleaning, getting ready for the family, holiday cards to mail out, school and office parties to get ready for, white elephant gifts to purchase and on and on. We have little time to catch our breath, let alone find some quiet time where we can plan and organize. Everyone around us seems just as miserable as we look.

What would happen if we took five minutes out of our day to go around the office with a big smile on our face and say good morning to our team? As it turns out the simple act of smiling sends a message to our brain that we are happy and relaxed. When we are happy our brains send out feel-good endorphins to our body. Research also shows that smiling can make other people happy as well.  When is the last time that you let your team know that you are happy and they should be too simply by smiling? If you are smiling your team will too. Smiling is contagious behavior.

So stop worrying about all your holiday chores. The best gift you could give to your team today is a great big smile and a cheerful good morning.

“Your smile is a messenger of your goodwill. Your smile brightens the lives of all who see it. To someone who has seen a dozen people frown, scowl or turn their faces away, your smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds.”  Dale CarnegieBlog

 

Show Appreciation – Please!

I recently started a new job and found there were a lot of people that went out of their way to help me. Even during my first interview, the receptionist went out of her way to show me the restroom and bring me a bottle of water. I asked myself what I could do to show my appreciation without looking insincere. I decided the best approach was to send a handwritten thank you note. Two days later I had a job offer. Don’t underestimate the power of showing sincere appreciation.

I read an article in Forbes recently about appreciation. The article stated that as adults, we are much more likely to receive criticism than appreciation. Our bosses, spouses and the others in our lives expect a great deal from us and recognize little when we deliver. Yet let us go above and beyond and we often hear nothing.

Appreciation is perhaps the greatest gift we can give to those around us. In the timeless book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie lists “Give Honest and Sincere Appreciation,” as one of his fundamental principles.

We might consider the following ways to express appreciation,

  1. Say, “thank you” as often as we can. We rarely hear that in today’s world when we shop or give gifts.
  1. Send a hand-written note of appreciation. If the sentiment is sincere, the note is never inappropriate and will make someone’s day.
  1. Speak your appreciation directly. Say “I appreciate what you did.”
  1. Express appreciation for the person as well as the deed. “I appreciate YOU. Thank You for being my friend – or co-worker, or…”
  1. Be specific about the appreciation and use the person’s name. Say, thank you Anna, I appreciate you correcting my expense report so processing would not be delayed.

Wouldn’t we love to hear our bosses say I appreciate what you did last week?

 

 

 

Call Me By Name

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics the unemployment rate has reached an all time high at 4.9% as of Jan 2016. What is equally interesting is that over 50% of U.S. workers are thinking about a new job in 2016. In fact, we may be starting a new job next week, and we are wondering how to make a good first impression.

Call your new peers and employees by name. Nothing makes people feel better than having someone remember his or her name. In fact, Dale Carnegie once said, “A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.”

If we think we cannot remember people’s names we are not alone. Research headed by Kansas State University suggests that a person’s interest level significantly determines how well we remember names (Business Insider). Most of us are thinking about how we are going to introduce ourselves rather than listening closely to a person’s name. During a Skills for Success Program at Dale Carnegie DFW, we learned several tricks to help remember others names.

  1. Listen when someone is introducing themselves
  2. Repeat their name – say It is so nice to meet you Mary Kuniski
  3. Ask questions or comment about their name – say my Mother’s name is Mary. Are you Irish?
  4. Associate the person’s name with something – A business, rhyme, person’s appearance, the meaning of the name, a mind picture or a similar name.

To learn more about how you too can remember names and many other memory tricks join DFW Dale Carnegie in a Skills For Success program. You will be glad you did!