Source | LinkedIn | Paul Drewitt | Novels ‘CatWalk’ released in London April 2020 / ‘Karinya’ released in NY City in August 2020
Now more than ever it’s important to interact with others in a positive way to be successful in all walks of life. In 1953 Dale Carnegie wrote the timeless classic ‘How to win friends and influence people’. Since then, more than 16 million copies have been sold worldwide, teaching EQ skills across the globe. Let’s examine what makes this literature so popular and the techniques used to influence others.
The desire to feel Important
We all like to feel as though we are wanted, loved and appreciated. We act shocked when a surprise birthday party is secretly arranged by our friends, but actually cherish the moment, grateful for others thoughtfulness.
Work place environments are busy places, often overlooking the importance of humanizing processes. Here are some ideas to make people feel more important at work.
Use the person’s name
When we use someone’s name it subconsciously acknowledges their existence and makes them feel important; “David, loved the way you handled yourself at the meeting this morning.” This personalizes the feedback and helps to engage the other person in clean listening practices. Our name is synonymous to our identity, and when we are addressed in this way it tells us that the person saying our name cares for us and is attempting to make an authentic connection. As a result, this makes us feel valued and……. Important.
Clean listening
When we sincerely listen to another person’s opinion using clean listening practices, they feel acknowledged and that their opinions matter. There are a few terms for listening skills in circulation, my favourite is clean listening. This means to listen without thinking of the answer at the same time. The recipient will know the difference as when we listen and think of solutions at the same time, we look up or sideways. A clean listener will look straight at you with a soft calming disposition, sincerely listening to what you have to say without being judgmental or thinking of solutions simultaneously. Engaging in clean listening practices will make your staff feel acknowledged, valued and……. Important.