Gratitude—and Your Attitude

Always say thank you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! You can’t say it enough with sincerity.

Take time every day to say thank you to those who have contributed to your continuing success. When you start thanking each person who has made a contribution to your life in some way, you will see the power of this simple, yet amazing part of etiquette.

Showing sincere appreciation to others is so important that I created a technique that I call the “Thank You Chain.” For every workshop, keynote address, presentation or referral I receive, I thank everyone who was involved in securing the opportunity. It is frequent that a project or business comes from a collective effort, and I want to make sure everyone knows that his or her part of it was deeply appreciated.

Start your own “Thank You Chain” by taking the following steps:

1. Working from past to present, think about the chain of events that led to your current career position or most recent business opportunity.
2. Make a list of the people who helped you through referrals, endorsements, advice, or in other ways.
3. Write, call, send a personalized e-mail, or my favorite––-take out a pen and paper and write a handwritten note to thank them for their confidence in you. Report how you are doing and how their assistance positively impacted your success.
4. Each time you receive a new piece of business or advance in your career, keep them up to date and thank them again for the part they played.

One quality that makes people charismatic and positive net workers is their diligence in showing appreciation. I have heard it said that you can never say thank you too many times when it is done sincerely. It is good etiquette and good etiquette is always good business.