I promised Sandy I wouldn’t rant, but I have to rant……

I was at Yoga the other day and our instructor (or should I say Yogini? Dunno, I’m new….) was announcing the 24 hr yogathon in support of children with HIV/AIDS living in 3rd world countries (coinciding with International AIDS Day), and it was suggested if you couldn’t partake, perhaps you would like to sponsor, and I thought, “Yeah, totally, I’d like to help.”

So after class I approached the instructor, during a break in her conversation with a couple of the other staff at the studio and asked if I could sponsor her team. She looked over her shoulder and replied, “Yes, the name is xxxxxxxxx” (a native indian word I had to ask her to spell, which seemed to annoy her). I was about to say something else to her, but instead, stood there with my mouth agape as she went back to her conversation with the staff, completely dismissing me, and not so much as offering a “Thank you.” I was stunned and irritated!

I was reminded just how much weight the words, “thank you”, really do carry.

It is my belief that no matter how you position your professional and/or personal brand, one of the key elements to success is incorporating the value of gratitude. A simple “thank you” to anyone who has assisted you, no matter how big or small the help, can make or break an interaction or transaction………even to the point where people will tell the world at large about it (this post, case in point).

Even more powerful, it can change the result of following actions that you may or may not want the person you are interacting with to take. In this case, I walked out the door and changed my charity of choice and donated to the local homeless guy outside of Shoppers.