Courtesy Makes It Easy to Work with Others

Demonstrating courtesy is a mark of respect. It makes work – and life – easier for you and others. On the other hand, abrasive, rude behavior and incivility make work – and life – unpleasant. Business opportunities, customers, and promotions have been and will continue to be lost due to a lack of courtesy. Most discourteous behaviors can be avoided. Practice these courtesy behaviors until they are second nature.

Courteous people:

Freely use the words “please,” “thank you,” “excuse me,” and “may I.”

Show appreciation and give people credit for what they do.

Give compliments when they are deserved and praise other’s accomplishments.

Respond to requests and invitations graciously and promptly, and show up when they say they will.

Smile often.

Are always thoughtful to the people around them and considerate of other’s feelings.

Influence Others to Support You

Your ability to influence others contributes to how successful you can become. Your influence others when you convince them of your position and obtain their support for your decisions and actions. The following skills are needed to influence others:

- Listen. Effective listening is one of the most powerful forms of communication. When you listen to another person, you place your attention wholly on what that person is saying. Effective listening helps influence others because they are more inclined to listen to you, in turn, and to credit what you have to say.

- Show genuine respect for others. Respect for others means that you honor confidences, make reasonable allowances for others' faults, behave nonjudgmentally, expect others to act ethically and responsibly, and show consideration for another's feelings. When you demonstrate respect, you are respected in response.

- Act confidently. People tend to follow those whoa ct with confidence. If you trust yourself and believe in the rightness of your decisions and actions, others will follow you. Exuding confidence when you believe your decisions are sound, even if you feel anxious, will crate a positive model for others to follow.