All that really matters in your life are the small deposits you make into the lives and hearts of your social, personal, and business contacts. Here are some business etiquette tips for going above and beyond.
Here are a few truths that bounce around my heart:
- Make time in your day to do one nice thing for another living, breathing, and thriving human being. It’s not the big things we do; it’s the small daily deposits we make into other people’s lives that make life worth living.
- Take that overworked friend a Subway sandwich to their office. A whole sub would provide lunch and dinner for an overworked friend who’s under a deadline. I did this for a friend in an accounting business last week. You would have thought I dropped off a boat and a captain. He just looked at me like I was Mother Teresa or something. I kind of felt like it, too, as I walked to my car.
- Take your child’s teacher a Starbucks coffee. Really, it’s just the boost they need.
- Listen when a person in business is telling you their struggle. You get extra bonus points if you are in a higher position and you listen without being autobiographical.
- Build other people up. A business friend was telling me last week how uptight and type-A another friend is. I said “Whew! I could use a little bit more of that in me. Wish I had tighter skills in that area.” And just like that. I stopped gossip and built up a friend in the business arena.
If you long for things to get better in all aspects of your life, then aim to do one kind thing a day for another person. What you give comes back to you tenfold.
These are business etiquette tips but also just a guide for how to treat others.
