My latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less is about to go into its third printing. That really pleases me. It has become a greater success than I thought it would be. I’m glad that people are finding its career advice to be helpful. You can pick up a copy of Success Tweets at your local bookstore or at Amazon.com. Better yet, you can download it for free at www.SuccessTweets.com.
I’m in the home stretch of a series of blog posts that further explain the career advice in Success Tweets – just 33 more to go. Today’s career advice comes from Success Tweet 108…
Live people take precedence over phone calls. Continue in person face to face conversations, rather than answering your cell phone.
I am really sorry that Women’s Edge Magazine is no longer with us. I used to find a lot of great career advice and wisdom in its pages. The January 2008 issue of Women’s Edge had two great quotes that relate to the career advice in Success Tweet 108.
“Communicate respect in every encounter with every person, regardless of position or background.” Robyn Hall, Raleigh Police Department
“Listen and speak at the same time, meaning that you actively engage people with your full attention.” Judy Fourie, J. Fourie & Company
These are two pieces of great common sense career success advice. They will help you become known as an interpersonally competent person.
Focusing on live people – rather than your electronic gadgets – is the best way to demonstrate your respect for others. Respect is the key to building strong relationships with the people in your life – not just those who can do something for you, but everyone you meet.
Cathy, my wife, is a good example of this. She makes friends with everyone, because she treats everyone with respect. The dry cleaner, pharmacy clerks, mailman, paper delivery guy, our housekeeper, all love her because she treats them with the respect they deserve as fellow human beings. She is genuinely interested in them as people. This interest communicates her respect for them.
Many people show a lot of respect for people above them in the hierarchy, and little respect for those below them. This is too bad. Often people below you can do as much or more for you than those above you. But that’s not the point. The point is that they’re people too, and as such, are entitled to your respect.
The Optimist Creed has some great things to say about respect. It encourages us to, “Promise yourself to make all your friends feel as if there is something in them…and to give every living creature you meet a smile.” If you want a copy of The Optimist Creed to hang in your office, go to https://budbilanich.com/optimist.
The second quote is interesting for what it has to say about human interaction. I like the idea of “listening and speaking at the same time.” In other words, as you engage someone, listen very carefully to what he or she has to say so you can respond appropriately. What you say should be directly related to what he or she has just said. This demonstrates that you are listening. It also demonstrates that you value what he or she says – a great way to show someone that you respect him or her.
Being fully engaged means that you shut out the distractions of the world and focus your attention on the person with whom you’re having a conversation. People tell me that I seem to never answer my cell phone. This is true. I tell everybody that my cell phone is not a good way to contact me because it is usually off. My cell phone is usually off because I am often in conversations with my clients. I don’t want the distraction of a ringing or vibrating cell phone when I’m trying to concentrate on another person and what he or she is saying.
The two quotes at the beginning of this post are complimentary. One of the best ways to show others that you respect them is to engage them. One of the best ways to engage people is to listen to what they say and respond appropriately. If you keep these two pieces of common sense in mind as you meet people, you’ll be on your way to becoming known as an interpersonally competent person, and creating the life and career success you want and deserve.
The common sense career success coach point here is simple. Demonstrate your respect for other people by paying attention to them and what they have to say. Follow the career advice in Tweet 108 in Success Tweets. “Live people take precedence over phone calls. Continue in person face to face conversations, rather than answering your cell phone.” Focusing on live people – rather than your electronic gadgets – is the best way to demonstrate your respect for others. Respect for others is great career advice. It is the key to building strong relationships with the people in your life – not just those who can do something for you, but everyone you meet.
That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 108. What’s yours? Please take a minute so share your thoughts with us in a comment. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
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