Tip Of The Month- May 2013

On Communication and Relationship Building

Communication and relationship building are the lifeblood of business, and how you relate to others is what business etiquette is all about. In order to gain a competitive advantage, we need the skills and ability to handle ourselves in all types of situations. It is critical to possess the hard skills- being great at what we do and how to make it happen and in addition implementing and using the soft skills that I like to say impact the bottom line. They are the skills that refer to personal qualities, attitudes, habits, social graces and interactions that make us an easy person to be around and work with.

Some of the most common and sought after are:

1. Good communication skills and having the power to effectively communicate will help build collaborative relationships, gain a competitive advantage and grow business. In our digital world, we are so accustomed to virtual communication- that we have to work hard to continually activate our verbal and nonverbal communication muscles.
2. Attitude- Positive is key. Being optimistic and looking at the glass half full sounds like common sense and it is and yet it can be a differentiator. Your attitude accounts for about 80% of your success. And that’s one thing you control totally.
3. Strong work ethic-thinking outside of the box and doing whatever it takes to get the job done and beyond with both motivation and dedication.
4. Great manners and social etiquette are very ‘in’ and always give one what I recently heard-the ‘etiquette edge’.
5. Time management- we know that time is money and the one commodity that when it is spent, it is gone. Knowing how to organize, prioritize and being a wise time manager will make one happier and more accomplished. “You can always make more money, you can’t create more time”- Anonymous
6. Team player-life is made up of the different personalities that we collaborate with at work and in life. Understanding and working with each one and seeing their unique strengths and areas of opportunity will ultimately make us stronger. TEAM-Together Everyone Achieves More.
7. Solving Challenges- being resourceful and creative to help find solutions and keep things under control.
8. Confidence and Awareness- something we go to school on daily. Everyday think of something that makes you great at what you do and who you are. Continually work on raising the bar for yourself- by learning or strengthening a skill you use daily automatically makes us more confident and better at what we do.
9. Be open to coaching and critiquing. People who learn from criticism, coaching and critiquing continually grow as a person and a professional.
10. Adaptability and Flexibility. Being able to shift courses, embrace challenges and open to new ideas is the one constant of life which is–Change.
11. Handling stress- and being able to strive and work well under deadlines and pressure. When we handle with grace and style, we stand out.

These all sound easy when read, the true challenge is adapting, implementing and mastering these skills which will clearly help differentiate anyone who does.

Let Go

In Africa, the natives have a clever way of catching monkeys. They take a coconut shell, cut a small hole in one end and hollow it out. The hole is just big enough too allow a monkey’s hand to enter. Then they attach a string to the other end of the coconut shell and place some peanuts inside the shell in the middle of a clearing and hide themselves behind a tree until the monkey comes. The monkey smells the peanuts inside- it reaches in and grabs the peanuts, but when it does, it’s fist with the peanuts inside is too large to escape the hole. Then the natives start pulling on the string and reel the monkey in- because the monkey will not let go of those peanuts to save his life. All he had to do is let go. A good lesson and reminder for all of us.

“Everyday is a day to say thank you”

A great goal for 2013 is to find a daily opportunity to say thank you to someone. There are multiple reasons and people in your life to put this into action and my hope is that you find the true joy of this.

Send an email, a text, a phone message and of course, a handwritten note.

Whatever system works for you, find a way to put into action. I still like to use my Power of 3 – everday – – 3 emails, 3 phone calls and 3 notes to say hello and thank you..

Visit www.appreciationpower.com and send a free card on me (my gift to you)

AppreciationPower.com