Interacting with others is not always the easiest thing in the world but the truth is, most of us spend a large amount of our waking hours working, hopefully productively, rubbing shoulders with others; those we like and those we don’t.
This excerpt is from a recent Manager Tools newsletter and addresses the positive influences a simple smile can have. The effect of a smile on someone’s day is absolutely incredible.
Look, you're going to come into contact with folks you don't know. If you think that not smiling is a good thing, you're wrong. It's rude. It doesn't matter what your standing in the company is. If you come in contact, even in passing, with another person, the appropriate and professional thing to do is smile.
You don't have to start a conversation. You don't have to care about them. You don't have to know who they are. Your smile is not an obligation to be someone's best friend. It's not a sign of weakness or lack of strength (in fact, just the opposite). It's not a start down a slippery slope that ends with you hanging out together. A smile is just a non-verbal professional greeting. The lack of a smile is perceived as a slight by many in your organization, particularly if you're a senior person or an executive.
The obligation of a minimal professional greeting isn't applied only to those to whom it comes easily. It applies to everyone. Smile at strangers. Hey, they might know your boss. ;-)
My encouragement, share a smile in every area of your life; personal, professional and even to those clerks and cashiers you come in contact with as you hurry through the sometimes mundane chores of every day life. I guarantee, you will notice a difference not only in yourself, but in those around you!
Well said Gina "it's so easy yet so powerful."
I used to not smile all that much(preoccupied or self-conscious take your pick).... Now I smile almost all the time and what a difference it makes for me, and also those around me!
Posted by: Lindsay Colitses | September 30, 2010 at 10:45 AM
It's amazing how that one simple little thing can change everything. The one person you smile at could be the only smile or kind gesture they receive all day. It is so easy yet so powerful.
Posted by: Gina | September 30, 2010 at 08:51 AM