One of the most
important ideas in our most important cast for careers - Building A Network - is the idea of giving first.
Even if you don’t ever think your efforts will be reciprocated, giving
first is the way to develop a foundation for a relationship.
Here’s three ways to give first, even to people you don’t know yet:
Smile. Smiling is a universal human greeting. It says ‘I’m pleased to meet you and I want our interaction to be a good one’. You can even smile on the phone and it’ll change the interaction.
Be gracious. When someone apologizes for holding you up, or their computer being slow, or cuts in front of you in line, be gracious. Tell them, ‘it’s fine, I have that problem all the time’ or ‘don’t worry, I have time’. It takes tension out of the situation, and that’s a kind thing to do.
Give a compliment. As you end an interaction, give a compliment. My favorite is ‘thank you for making that easy for me’, but I also use ‘thank you for being patient with my questions’. Again, it takes any tension out of the conversation and leaves the person with a positive feeling about you.
Even if you don’t care yourself about the ‘warm fuzzies’ (I don’t either!) giving first will increase the number of positive interactions you have. Try it and let us know how it goes.
Here’s three ways to give first, even to people you don’t know yet:
Smile. Smiling is a universal human greeting. It says ‘I’m pleased to meet you and I want our interaction to be a good one’. You can even smile on the phone and it’ll change the interaction.
Be gracious. When someone apologizes for holding you up, or their computer being slow, or cuts in front of you in line, be gracious. Tell them, ‘it’s fine, I have that problem all the time’ or ‘don’t worry, I have time’. It takes tension out of the situation, and that’s a kind thing to do.
Give a compliment. As you end an interaction, give a compliment. My favorite is ‘thank you for making that easy for me’, but I also use ‘thank you for being patient with my questions’. Again, it takes any tension out of the conversation and leaves the person with a positive feeling about you.
Even if you don’t care yourself about the ‘warm fuzzies’ (I don’t either!) giving first will increase the number of positive interactions you have. Try it and let us know how it goes.
*Newsletter Oct 16 2012
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