There Is Power in a Smile

George Eliot said, “Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles.” Smiling is a very simple way to make a good impression; it can immediately change your outward appearance and therefore how people perceive you. Perception is in the details and no matter how much you care about your employees and their well being, if do not make an effort to show you care, they may never know. 

A simple smile and hello in the morning to your fellow employees can change the course of an entire day. Perhaps Susie in the corner was running late and thought the day was going to be awful and your smile will turn her morning around. Maybe George from down the hall is having trouble getting through an assignment and your smile gives him the push he needs to finish it up.

A smile says, “Hi, I’m happy to be here and I’m glad you are too.” Communications experts estimate that 80 percent of communication is non-verbal, so even if you are saying the right things, you still need to show it as well. Research also shows that even fake smiles will work, so fake it till you make it, folks.

Smiling can improve your mood, improve the mood of those around you, encourage creativity, increase brain activity, decrease stress, make your more approachable, increase your perceived trustworthiness, and a host of other things. Even all these benefits are something to smile about!

In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie said, “A smile costs nothing, but creates so much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory sometimes lasts forever.”

As you go about your day, make an effort to smile a few extra times.  Eventually, smiling more will become a habit and you will find yourself much better for it.

Contact Connor | Caitlin at www.connorcaitlin.com

Managing Stress to Achieve Your Goals

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by work or school, unable to unwind after a demanding day? Often, this is due to an unhealthy level of stress, making you feel trapped and unable to complete any of your tasks. These levels of stress can cause things like obesity, depression, and decreased cognitive ability.

While too much stress can make you feel overwhelmed, too little stress causes you to feel bored and uninterested. A healthy level of stress motivates you to work productively, allowing you to reach your full potential. The key to being successful is being able to manage your stress and keep it at a healthy level.

There are many ways to help manage stress. Exercise is a great way to beat stress. It is proven to reduce stress hormones and calm your mind. Meditating is also known to relax your mind and body, reducing stress. Eating and sleeping well are also important when it comes to managing stress. Foods rich in vitamin C are known to reduce stress hormones, while a good night’s sleep can help energize you the next day, so you don’t feel so overwhelmed.

If you have any questions, please contact Connor | Caitlin Talent Solutions at www.connorcaitlin.com.

Talent of a Lifetime

Talent is essential to everything a business does. Talent needs nurtured, tended to, and at times even created. Each member of the team brings something different to the table with their individual talents and abilities. When complacency is allowed, the talent plateaus and can even decrease.

Expecting excellence from employees and creating an environment where their talents are valued and sincerely appreciated develops exceptional employees. Having exceptional employees leads to higher output and greater results.

The question then becomes how to insure talent is truly being tended to. A lot of companies have created superior leadership and training programs. These programs allow companies to teach employees company standards and specific operating procedures.

All of this is wonderful, however it is important to consider the negative effects as well. When companies rely too heavily on these programs, they effectively toss talent management to the side. This is the exact opposite thing the programs were intended for, but it is what is happening.

Successful talent management happens daily and involves all levels of employees! When employees are directed to foster talent in each other it creates stronger teams and individuals. Talent management cannot be a once a year, or worse, once a career thing. It is a continuous process of self-improvement and awareness.

Contact Connor | Caitlin with any questions about developing talent in your business at info@connorcaitlin.com

Expansion With The Help of Social Media

Social media is rapidly changing the ways we do business. It is a great way to expand your business and increase name recognition. A study by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK found that 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that has a big social media presence.

The key to using social media as a means of expansion is to understand your target audience and what social media sites they use. For example, if your audience is younger, you might consider using Twitter, while you might use Facebook if they are older.

Remember that it takes time to build up a large follower base that will make a difference in your business. Don’t expect instant results and stay with it! Also, respond to feedback. No one wants to follow a page that doesn’t interact with them. This will help you keep your existing followers as you try to gain more.

Most importantly, remember that social media is simply a tool to increase exposure and to connect with your customers, so don’t spend too much time focusing on it! You still need develop products, grow your mailing list and sell your products. Social media shouldn’t replace marketing activities, it should complement them.

If you want more information, please contact Connor|Caitlin Talent Solutions.

BASF, Making a Difference

In a world where we hear far more about the bad than the good, it is vital to recognize exceptional actions when taken. BASF continues their partnership with the Louisiana Arts & Science Museum to provide a hands-on learning experience for children ages 6 to 12.

BASF The Chemical Company started the partnership four years ago in the company’s continual effort to support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the region.  

“BASF encourages an interest in science at an early age,” said Tom Yura, Senior Vice President and Manager of the Geismar BASF site. “Our goal is to have kids interact with the basics of chemistry and the products that surround them daily so that they can explore the connections to chemistry in their world. Through Kids’ Lab we provide hands-on learning that helps today’s students become the innovators and leaders of the future.”

More than 10,300 people have participated in the program at the museum since its induction. This has allowed children and adults alike to explore chemistry in safe, supervised experiments as well as demonstrations. By exposing young children to science, BASF truly opens the door for new explorations and interests for the children. Additionally, the company is giving back to the community around them in a very positive way.

This is just one example of coatings companies getting involved in their communities to make the world a better place.

Contact Connor | Caitlin at info@connorcaitlin.com to talk about how your company can give back.

Be a Learner!

Whenever a person is recognized as being successful, people always want to know how they did it. One thing that nearly every successful person will contribute his or her success to, is lifelong learning.

Successful people never stop learning; they learn from every opportunity they can. They’re continuously looking for new opportunities to grow and develop. This allows them to constantly be at the top of their game and know what is going on in their market.

There are tons of ways you can develop lifelong learning habits. Read a book a month, an article a day, or a newspaper every weekend. Go to a conference. Set up a training program at work. Sign up for something you have never done before. The important thing is to set goals for yourself and make sure you are making progress towards them.

Once you have your goals set, decide how you will use your new knowledge and make the most of it. Talk about what you are learning with others. Write about it in a journal, or keep notes in the margins of the book you are reading. Teach others what you have learned. Surround yourself with other lifelong learners that will challenge your ideas and push you to try new things.

If you dedicate yourself to being a lifelong learner, it will impact far more than just your professional life. Lifelong learning can create new friendships, develop new skills and hone existing skills, keep your mind sharp, help you adapt to change, lead to higher levels of self-fulfillment and it can even help make the world a better place. 

If you have any questions about lifelong learning or how you can promote it in your workplace, please contact Connor | Caitlin at www.connorcaitlin.com.

Living in a Fish Bowl

Today if you want to know something about a person, or a company, you simply grab your smartphone and open the web browser along with various social networking sites. Nearly everyone has instant access to information when they want it, how they want it. It really is like being the goldfish inside of the fish bowl.

When I chose this topic to write on I decided to Google myself. While nothing unprofessional came up, there were definitely quite a few embarrassing high school photos with glasses and braces. It is amazing how everything that is put out on the Internet is accessible. EVERYTHING you put out there can be accessed!

What happens when you Google yourself, or your company? Do you like what you see? When people Google your company, is it easy for them to find what they are looking for and what you really want them to see? Can you make improvements to your personal social networking profiles?

When individuals and business live with integrity, they do not have to worry about living in the fish bowl. With everything being transparent, it is nearly impossible to hide anything. Maybe the answer to this is to stop trying to hide things. As an individual or company, if you live beyond reproach then you create for yourself the ability to be constantly transparent.

Anybody can see right into your fish bowl whenever they want to, so ask yourself, what is in my fishbowl?

Contact Connor | Caitlin with any questions about integrity or transparency.

www.connorcaitlin.com