This is one of the most precious gifts I have every received. My dearest friend, Jolene Brown, wrote her feelings about me for my 80th birthday, each wrapped around a $10 bill. I will save these words forever! It is something that anyone can do for a treasured friend or family member, so I want to share this with all of you. You will truly touch their hearts as Jolene did mine.
To learn more about Barbara and her work, go to http://www.barbaraglanz.com
What advice would you give to your 20 year old self?
As the author or 14 books and a professional speaker who has traveled the world, I have never been asked this question before, so it has been a special joy to mull over what I would say.
I think I was pretty mature at age 20, perhaps because of being the oldest of four children, growing up in a small town, and a dog bite incident when I was five years old and the subsequent surgeries. On the whole, thinking back, I actually made very good decisions growing up except maybe for some silliness with friends. Choosing to spend a lot of time practicing my piano, doing my best in school, choosing where to go to college, all were good decisions.
Whatever I did, I always did to the very best of my ability, a lesson I learned as a very young person. That led to many awards and honors during those years. I also made an excellent choice in a husband, falling in love with the most honest and loyal person I have ever known……and he was handsome, too! 😉 We raised three beautiful children along the way.
I think one of the important lessons I learned early in life was the idea of the old saying, “Bloom where you are planted.” Find the good in every situation and make the most of it. Some of the wisdom I have gained over the years I think I intuitively knew in those days, but now it is fun to put this wisdom into words.
Barbara at 20 in her college graduation picture
First of all, take care of YOURSELF. Eat right, do some exercise every day, find alone time each day, get a good night’s sleep, and treasure friends and family. Even in my 70’s I am committed to at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. I either swim a mile, walk 3 miles on the beach, go to my trainer, or walk on the treadmill. I am so serious about this that even if it is 10:00 pm and I haven’t yet exercised, I am on the treadmill in my extra bedroom. Commitment is the key! Our minds and our bodies are our temples, and we have a responsibility to take care of them to the best of our ability.
Plan quiet time each day to refill your emotional bank account and to keep connected to your spiritual self. This can be done through meditation, prayer, journaling, or reading a spiritual book such as a devotional or the Bible. I love “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young and “Mornings with Jesus Daily Bible” from Guideposts.
Remember that every day is a GIFT. Look for the blessings even in the most difficult situations in your life. That is always your choice, and if you truly look, you WILL find them. I love the quote from William Winter, “As much of Heaven is visible as we have eyes to see.”
When our second child died, it was the hardest thing I will ever have to face in my life. However, many blessings came out of that time, and one of them was learning to live five minutes at a time. On the most difficult days when I didn’t think I could get out of bed or even get through an hour, I could always make it through five minutes., just five minutes, five minutes, five minutes.
What that taught me was to always be fully in the present. When I am with someone, I am totally with them. This is what mindfulness is about. “Every day is a gift. That is why we call it ‘the present’.”
I also believe that every person who comes into my life is a GIFT Sometimes I can just untie the ribbon, sometimes I can peek inside, and other times I can dig right down to the bottom. However, each time I pass that gift by, it is my loss.
Nurture your FAITH, whatever that may be for you. It is the only thing that can NEVER be taken away from you. I have learned in my spiritual life that in surrender comes perfect freedom. I just have to trust that no matter how bad things get, God IS in charge. His plan is much better for me than my own plans, and that surrender takes the anxiety for the future away. I must admit, however, that as a human being, I do take control back more often than I should, but I am learning each day to give it up to God.
When I started my company at age 52, I said, “God, You gave me this gift, so You put me where You want me to be,”and the result has been the unbelievable opportunity to speak to audiences all over the world. Because I knew from the beginning I was just the “messenger,” I have never gotten caught up in ego (Edging God Out), and my business has all been word of mouth and referral. I am very clear who is the CEO of my company! 😉
I have a new friend who was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Syria for 63 days several years ago. He said they took everything from him – his passport, his cell phone, all his contact information, and even his clothes. It was completely dark, and he didn’t even know what day it was (though he figured out a system to once a day determine light or dark to try to keep count.) He shares so powerfully that the ONLY thing that they could not take from him was his faith, and that kept him sane through the whole horrible ordeal.
RELATIONSHIPS are what life is all about. Be the best family member, spouse, parent, and friend you can be with the skills you have been given. And be a friend to have a friend.
I often think about who might miss me when I am gone. Have I truly made a difference in this world? My idea of Heaven has become that we will see all the people we have touched in some way, most of whom we know nothing about. I can hardly wait to see who is in that line!
Everything can be taken from us so quickly – our health, our homes, our possessions, the people we love, and yet our relationships and our memories can never be taken away. However, we must make the relationships in our lives a priority.
During the pandemic I decided to do a “100 Day Project.” Every day I called one or two people who had influenced my life in some way, many of whom I had not spoken with in years. What a precious gift that was to me – and I hope to them, too! It rekindled many friendships that had gotten buried in busyness.
I keep a “Blessings Journal,” and most days I write the people I interacted with and what blessings I received that day. Sometimes they are big things, but mostly they are small things that happened in my day from a phone call to an email or a surprise gift. No matter how busy or difficult a day is, I can always find one or two blessings, and most of them come from the relationships in my life.
Also, every Thanksgiving I make a list of all the people in this world that I love. I am always so touched by how long that list has grown to be, and how blessed I am to have so many beautiful relationships.
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You, too? I thought I was the only one.’ “ ~ C.S. Lewis
LOVE all people. Even if you do not agree with them or don’t even like them, they were still created in the image of God, so RESPECT them as human beings. (That does not mean that you have to spend time with them! 😉 I believe that our only responsibility in life is simply to love other people as we meet them on our journey. That is why I created the – / 0 / + chart to show the CHOICE we have in every interaction.
We can discount the person and make them feel less important than us or our organization. That leaves them with a minus. We can simply take care of the business at hand which is a zero. OR we can create a Human Level connection which says . “I SEE YOU as a human being” and that leaves the person with a plus because they interacted with you.
Always try to create a plus for the person you meet, even if it is only for a moment. Just using their name, asking them a question about themselves, complimenting them, or sharing a thought with them lets them feel recognized and that they count for something.
I often tell this story about an experience I had in the Ladies Restroom at O’Hare airport as a simple example. It was a cold, snowy February morning, and as I walked into the restroom, there was a woman all hunched over, listlessly cleaning, simply going through the motions. I walked up to her, lightly touched her on the arm, looked right into her eyes, and said, “Thank you so much for keeping this restroom clean. You are really making a difference for all of us who travel.”
She looked at me like a doe in the headlights and then out came a big smile. She perked up, and she started cleaning with a passion. By the time I came out of the stall, she was handing out towels to all the women who were washing their hands.
I left with tears in my eyes, because that cost me nothing. And what did I tell her in that one statement? She was of value; I saw her as a human being with a purpose.
After hearing that story, my audience members tell me they never go into a restroom where someone is cleaning without thanking them. That is just one simple example of how choosing to make human level connections can make such a difference in this world.
My personal philosophy of life has come from Mother Teresa: “Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.”
Learn to FORGIVE, not for the other person (they probably will never know), but for yourself. Holding grudges eats away at you, so forgive and let them go. That goes for yourself as well! We are only human, and we ALL make mistakes.
I suggest that my audiences think about “mis-takes.” Even in the movies, it takes many takes to get a final print, so a “mis-take” is just one thing that didn’t work…..and we can learn from our “mis-takes” if we forgive ourselves.
“The person who succeeds is not the one who holds back, fearing failure, nor the one who never fails…..but rather the one who moves on in spite of failure.” ~ Charles Swindoll
Read and LEARN something new every day. That is what keeps you growing and young, even if you are chronologically old. I have been a reader my entire life. One of my favorite quotes is from S. I. Hayakawa, “In a very real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read. It is not true that we have only one life to live: if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.” I suggest you keep a list of all the books you read every year. It is so affirming to go back and realize all the experiences you have had through your reading.
It is so important, too, for us to be open to new learnings, especially with technology today. I am so proud of my 98 year old aunt who uses email every day and even zoom to connect with one of her sons in Thailand. She sends me the “naughtiest” emails of any of my friends! 😉
As a speaker, when the pandemic started, I had to learn how to present in Zoom, how to do webinars for my clients, and how to scan documents rather than faxing. Although I came kicking and screaming to some of it as I am not a techy person, I have continued to learn.
One example was being asked to do a Zoom keynote to over 3000 people. I don’t think I slept well for a week, worrying if the technology would fail (my office is in my home, so I do not have a trouble shooter tech person here to help!). It went well, but I still missed the personal interaction. However, I LEARNED. Continual learning keeps our minds sharp as well as open to new ideas.
Today we can always expand our horizons with listening to podcasts, Ted talks, and searching Google for things that interest us. And if you are having problems, all you have to do is to ask a neighbor kid or a grandchild. They will help you keep young!
Be RESILIENT. No matter what happens in your life, you always have choices in how you respond. I appreciate this quote from Florence Littauer, “I am not responsible for my situation, but I am responsible for my reaction to it.”
Like so many others in their later years, I have had a lot of pain in my life. We lost our second child, Gavin, when I was just 28 years old, the hardest thing I will ever have to bear.
In that same year, my Dad died unexpectedly at age 62, Nana, our St, Bernard puppy died, and I found a lump in my breast. And finally, my dear husband Charlie died when I was just 56. I was very young to be a widow, so it was an extremely lonely time for me. However, I learned that I could either be better or bitter – it was my choice.
Even though I had some rough times grieving (Gavin was buried on Christmas Eve which is the birth of a baby, and I made a move to Florida where I knew no one soon after Charlie died). However, through it all, I still today CHOOSE to be a positive person, and that has served me well.
Marcia Graf says, “Out of the coldest and seemingly most barren times of our lives, we discover hidden truths and bring them as gifts into the lives of others.”
Keep things in PERSPECTIVE. It is easy for little things to become big things. Try to think, “Will this matter five or ten years from now?” One of the things that happens, especially when you are depressed or grieving, is that we can become overwhelmed with small decisions or details.
It helps so much to have some kind of support group to help you see the bigger picture. Professionally, I am in a MasterMind group of speaker friends from all over the country. We meet once a month and share ideas and challenges. Personally, I am in a sharing group from my church as well as a Bible study that meets weekly. I also created a Book Group of friends that keep me grounded and help expand my horizons.
There are many resources on the internet today that can help you find a place where you feel you are not alone and you can share your concerns safely. That will help you keep difficult times in perspective.
Follow your dreams and dream BIG. Growing up in a town of 4500 in Iowa in the 50’s and 60’s, my dreams were limited by my experience and the people I knew. As I went off to college and experienced a bigger world, however, my dreams became bigger and bigger. I realized early on in my life that I could be and do anything I set my mind to, and I am grateful to my parents for that teaching. I learned to “always aim for the top.”
I was a high school English and Drama teacher for several years before our children were born. (In fact, one of the fun things I share in the introduction to my audiences is that I directed David Hasselhof in his first high school play! 😉
When our first child was born, Charlie and I decided that I would stay home and make them my career. I had a business plan and goals for them – by age seven they had all seen a ballet, an opera, and a stage play, I took them to classes at all the museums in downtown Chicago, and they had to take piano lessons from their seventh birthday to their twelfth birthday, non-negotiable.
During the nineteen years I stayed at home with them, I did some part time teaching and I finished my Master’s Degree in Adult Learning, one course a quarter for five years. (I have written an article titled “You CAN Have it All – A Message of Hope for Women Who Choose to Stay Home with Their Children” about that time. You can read a copy at https://barbaraglanz.com/articles/balance/you-can-have-it-all/ if you are in that situation.)
Then at age 48 when our oldest son was going off to Dartmouth, I went back to work as Manager of Training for a Times Mirror Company. At age 52 I started my own company as a professional speaker and author, and the rest has been amazing.
Even in my wildest dreams I never imagined I could accomplish and experience all the blessings I have had in my life, most after the age of 50 – inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame, being the first speaker on record to speak in all 50 states and on all 7 continents, being able to visit over 100 different countries, and to have precious friends all over the world.
And if a small town girl from Iowa can do all that, SO CAN YOU!
The message my parents taught me was to believe in myself and to always do my best. That is enough! And I believe that when we do that, doors open that we could never have imagined. So, never give up on yourself or your dreams. You CAN have it all!
Take time to determine your core VALUES and then use them in all the decisions you make. Do what is right. The end does NOT justify the means.
It is critically important that at any stage of your life you find a purpose larger than yourself. My purpose has varied at different times, but when I started my company, I created a personal mission statement: “I am here as the Lord’s helper to spread contagious enthusiasm and to lovingly and creatively help other people and myself see the choices we have to make a difference in the world.”
My best advice is to develop your own personal mission statement. As I move more closely toward retirement, I have realized that I don’t have to speak to 3000 people to make a difference. I can make it just one by one by one, and that is enough.
These are the values and ideas I try hard to live by. I certainly fail often, yet I keep trying to be a little better each day. May we continually learn from our own experiences, especially our failures, hold tight to our faith, and treasure the people we meet along the way.
Much love,
For more inspiring articles, go to www.barbaraglanz.com
BARBARA GLANZ BIOGRAPHY
A member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations to improve morale, retention and service and with individuals who want to rediscover joy and purpose in their lives.. The first speaker on record to have spoken on all 7 continents and in all 50 states, A member of the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations to improve morale, retention and service and with individuals who want to rediscover joy and purpose in their lives. The first speaker on record to have spoken on all 7 continents and in all 50 states, she is known for her inspiring presentations on Employee Engagement, Customer Service, Appreciation & Recognition, and Kindness. Barbara is the author of fourteen books including The Simple Truths of Service Inspired by Johnny the Bagger®, CARE Packages for the Workplace, and 180 Ways to Spread Contagious Enthusiasm™. Voted “best keynote presenter you have heard or used” by Meetings & Conventions Magazine, she lives and breathes her personal motto, “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™. She can be reached at bglanz@barbaraglanz.com or www.barbaraglanz.com.
Several months ago I was privileged to speak to all the leaders of the Oklahoma University Medical Systems in Oklahoma City. Jed Liuzza, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at OUMS, recently sent me a copy of an email he shared with the leaders about a special way to appreciate one another:
Good afternoon everyone!
It’s a beautiful day and the sun is shining which reminded me about how we might bring some sunshine into the lives of our team.
We all know there’s always something happening here at OUMS…like saving lives…and we have a great team of individuals who are committed to doing that each and every day. It’s never too late to express how much you appreciate your team or individuals on your team. In fact, as leaders, we should practice showing appreciation every day.
So to help you, I thought I’d share an idea from Barbara Glanz’s book, “180 Ways to Spread Contagious Enthusiasm.” I hope you have found it helpful with so many great ideas on showing appreciation.
The idea I selected was one that spreads appreciation among all of your team members. The idea, as stated in the book, says, “Post a large poster page next to everyone’s office or cubicle door for a week. Ask other employees during the week to stop by and write something they appreciate about that person.”
Now for those of you already saying this won’t work because most or all of your employees don’t have an office or cubicle, I’d like to suggest that maybe you use your employee break room. For those of you with a very large number of employees, maybe do several employees a week over a period of time or group the posters by types of employees (i.e., administrative, clinical, support).
Let your team decide what the poster would look like – let them get creative!
Have a wonderful day everyone and know we appreciate the work you do for your teams and our patients!
Jed
It is so precious to me to see a client taking an idea and making it happen in their workplaces. Every one of us needs more appreciation, and this idea will work anywhere. If Jed and OUMS can do it, so can you and your team!
Another friend shared this photo with me from Illinois Toolworks. People are finding many creative ways to appreciate one another.
Another way to appreciate one another!
For more creative ideas on how to make your workplace more caring, creative, appreciative, and fun, go to www.barbaraglanz.com/ideas
Speaking at the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association in Baltimore
Ever find yourself needing to hold a meeting and JUST dreading it?
You know what I’m talking about… the glassy eyes, the unresponsive faces, the doodlers, the far-away-day-dreamy looks, the dead silence after a question is posed, the annoyed or bored looks when you discuss difficult items… even the under-the-table-phone-checker/chatterers.
Do these all leave you with the eerie feeling that you aren’t exactly being heard and your audience is tuned out? WAY OUT?
YOUR time is valuable, and so is theirs! You already know that it is crucial that they:
A) Receive your information,
B) Participate fully and willingly in the purpose of your meeting, and
C) Take the actions that you need them to, QUICKLY (all in a timely manner.)
After all, you’ve all got a lot on your to-do list, right? If you are anything like me, that list is calling out to you and growing steadily even now. So, let’s get to it!
Three main points to getting the most out of your meeting, AND your team:
1) Be a planner! Plan your agenda in advance. Be concise and clear. Use examples where possible.
2) Incorporate some creative communication to surprise and engage your team. Visual, verbal, physical. Make it stand out.
3) Start with THE POSITIVE! Three minutes of good news at the beginning of the meeting will make your team more receptive to sharing, engaging and being productive.
My assistant told me a story about a large company she once worked for where meeting after meeting after meeting was held – to the point that if she attended all the meetings she was supposed to, there would literally be no time for her to complete her actual job function.
And, frankly, these meetings were boring–dry and all-business, meaningless, often redundant, with seemingly endless talking. They often ran over the time limit, and items that were on the agenda were not even discussed. Whiners would sometimes “take control” of the meeting and derail the speaker’s timeline. There was no humanity in it, no joy, no inspiration. Nothing was being solved, and it felt like a waste, she said. She often left these meetings feeling absolutely drained and somewhat diminished, even bewildered, thinking, “There go two hours I’ll never get back!”
Until, that is, the day that Lynn came to have a meeting! Lynn is a spit-fire. She EXUDES positive energy, has a giant smile stamped on her face (yes, ALWAYS!), and is clearly enthusiastic beyond measure. She knows her material, but it isn’t scripted; it seems, instead,it is seamless. She made a promise right at the beginning to her audience: “I’m going to be real with you. We’re going to have fun together! You are going to participate, so your phone goes in this basket over here! You will leave smarter AND you will know what to do.”
Lynn kept her promise, always, and held the audience to keeping their end up, also. Shirking or non-participation were NOT options, and it WAS fun! Lynn had them do exercises, and they always stood up to do an activity because she said, “You use 1/3 more of your brain when you are standing.” She had them participate in activities that either proved her point or that they could take back to their departments to use as training tools. There was ENERGY! There was LAUGHTER! There was productive REAL TALK and HONEST FEEDBACK! There were even FIELD TRIPS! People LOVED going to Lynn’s meetings and would look forward all month to the next one. People even came in on their day OFF to attend her meetings and always left energized, thinking, and inspired to take action.
It came to the point that if Lynn wasn’t holding the meeting, there was a silent sigh in the room. Everyone WANTED to go to Lynn’s meetings and do what Lynn asked them to do and work with Lynn to make a better project/product/workplace. She built trust and loyalty. She built a team, just by mastering the art of the meeting!
For more ideas on how to make YOUR meetings more productive, here’s a free
Video Q &A session addressing just that!
http://www.barbaraglanz.com/iquestions/iq34.html
It’s your precious time we’re talking about, so let’s make it COUNT! Have a great week, and a phenomenal meeting! You CAN DO IT!
For more helpful ideas, feel free to explore my website, www.barbaraglanz.com, where there are free videos, blog archives, speaking programs for hire, consulting, super books and DVDs and more- all to assist you with managing change, raising morale and retention, getting the most from your team, and improving customer service.
An interesting exchange took place on Facebook this past week after Graphic Recorder Tim Hamons created and posted a visual representation of my Singapore talk. It truly reinforced for me that no matter where you are in the world, your words and actions matter! You CAN make a positive change and inspire others to do the same with very SIMPLE, no- or low-cost techniques!
The following is a friend of Tim Hamons’ commenting on his Facebook Timeline on the illustration he made of my work. I LOVE that Tim was able to take away SO much of my talk so easily!
Tanvi Gautam: This is amazing !! I could not make it due to another meeting but I feel like I was almost there. Thank you so much Tim ! Can someone please elaborate on the Pennies in pocket and good news points on the MSA model please ? thanks so much.
Tim Hamons: Hi Tanvi Gautam. Barbara Glanz was illustrating a simple model MSA: Models, Stories, Action Ideas…. Some examples of action ideas: Pennies in pocket- give your kids each 5 pennies to put in left pocket. Every time they give a compliment to someone during the day they move a penny to other pocket. The goal is to move them all across everyday. “Good News” is simply starting a meeting by asking everyone to share some “good news” as a way to begin the meeting.
The questions then, are:
What can YOU do today to take action, inspire others and model positivity?
What Actionable Ideas has someone in your workplace or personal life done recently to touch lives?
Tell me YOUR story and ideas! I’d LOVE to hear from you!
QUESTION: How can I bring more fun into my workplace?
BARBARA ANSWERS: Click Here
For more questions and answers with Barbara, please visit Barbara’s Video Q&A
I recently had the opportunity to speak at The Asia Professional Speakers Organization in Singapore!
In attendance was this remarkable gentleman, Tim Hamons, whose talent is both brilliant and most unusual. His title is “Graphic Recorder.” However, this description, (while accurate,) does no justice whatsoever to his skill, nor to his mind’s capacity to completely capture and then visually translate and “retell” the story of my experience with his hands and some markers. His thorough representation so colorfully brought to life the very essence of the positive change I strive to convey in all my work, without missing any models, examples, or details, that I felt, in turn, inspired by him!
I am thrilled to share his creation with you! Please have a look for yourself and SEE my message in a whole new way! I know you will feel more buoyant and glean both the content and context of my message after admiring his stunning visual illustration!
Below is what he shared on his Facebook Timeline. So, please take a moment. Have a good look for yourself and then get back to me! What stood out to YOU?
From Tim Hamons’ Facebook Timeline:
How many ways can you say and demonstrate “I care” to your audience? The amazing Barbara Glanz modeled and showed us many ways.
Key takeaways:
1. Create a positive human level connection with every transaction,
2. Design creative “care packages” for your customer,
3. Focus on creative communications and action ideas to surprise and get your message across.
— with Barbara Glanz
And Tim couldn’t have been more kind and complimentary about how my presentation reached him, giving him actionable ideas and inspiration, which is always my promise and my goal.
Tim Hamons wrote: 10:32pm Aug 14
“Thank you Barbara, for your generosity, abundant soaring spirit, and inspiring models. You are such an inspiration and model of selfless giving, joy, trust. It was such a blessing to meet you and hear your stories and models for creating positive change. I hope to get the chance to work with you and to share our visual work with some of your inspiring learning events. “
I do hope that his graphic recording, as well as my words and ideas will truly inspire you to make positive changes today and every day in your work and in your life!
I recently received this email from a person who was in my audience at the Society for Human Resource Managers annual conference where I was speaking on “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™-Creating Workplaces of Passion, Purpose, and Productivity”:
Barbara,
I recently attended the SHRM conference in Orlando and had the accidental privilege of hearing you speak. After walking around the convention center all morning, I found myself lost on the third floor with blisters on my heels. Unable to go any farther, I hobbled into your session. I’ve never been so glad to be in pain!
Initially, I had not planned on attending your session because I had seen you several years ago. I bought your books and I even got to meet you in person at a book signing. Boy, did your session re-energize my spirit! I currently work for a younger manager who believes that employees are just a Craigslist ad away. He even told me, a dedicated employee of 25 years, that “anyone who’s been here more than 5 years is complacent and worthless.” Needless to say, our workplace is not the happiest place in the world. Our manager does not even say hello when he passes by. It’s very demoralizing to go to work everyday.
But your session gave me renewed hope that I can possibly make up for his ignorance by using acts of kindness to perk up our staff. I have already dug through your books and found ideas for a short survey that I can give to the staff as soon as I return to work.
Thank you, Barbara, for the kick in the pants I needed to reverse the negativity in our workplace!
Sincerely,
Cynthia Pearce
HR Director
I immediately wrote Cynthia to thank her for the affirmation and to encourage her with even more ideas of small things that cost little or no money. Just this week she wrote back with this reply: “In the spirit of appreciation, I asked the chef to save all of the leftover Ice cream novelties for me to share with my co-workers when I pass out paychecks tomorrow. It’s very warm here, so I’m hoping my ‘Ice cream (I scream) my appreciation of you’ goes over well! Thanks again for the motivation.”
One of the joys of my mission is helping people create fully engaged workplaces of caring, creativity, FUN and ultimately greater productivity, and the best news of all is that it DOESN’T have to cost money. Way to go, Cynthia — you are making a difference!
Go to www.barbaraglanz.com/ideas and check out the archives for even more ways to make your workplace a great place to be. You can also subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™,” for a new idea every month.
Make a Thanksgiving Tree
THE IDEA:
It doesn’t just have to be the month of Thanksgiving that we share our gratitude and appreciation for blessings in our lives. One of the ways to keep “an attitude of gratitude” in the places we work is to make a Thanksgiving tree.
THE IDEA IN ACTION:
* Many years ago I created a Thanksgiving tree for our home. I took a large manzanita branch, sprayed it gold, and secured it in a base of plaster of Paris. Beside it I kept a basket of small plain cards with holes punched in them, another basket of pieces of colored yarn, and a pen. The tradition in our family is that the month before Thanksgiving, the tree is placed on a table in our living room, and each family member writes down things for which he or she is thankful and hangs them on the tree. We also encourage guests in our home to participate. At the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day we read the cards from the tree as an affirmation of our blessings. Then we save the cards from the year before, and we read those as well. It is a wonderful way to remind us of all the goodness in our lives and reinforces the importance of sharing our appreciation.
This is a tree that one of my clients made for their workplace.
TIPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION:
An organization could use this idea in a work area, a cafeteria, or other gathering place to encourage employees to focus on the good things happening each day. It also promotes communication and teamwork as others read the information shared on the cards. If the tree is kept up all year long, it will be important to remove the cards on a regular basis to make room for others and to encourage continual appreciation.
For more creative ideas, go to www.barbaraglanz.com/ideas
A friend just sent me this wonderful idea. Blessing Bags are prepared to keep in the car when one passes homeless people. They are something ALL of us can do to make a small difference in our world and especially something one can do with children or grandchildren to teach them about caring for others. The bags are filled with all kinds of things that most of us have around our homes and can easily share with others.
BLESSING BAGS
INGREDIENTS:
Gallon size Ziplock bags
chap stick
packages of tissues
toothbrush and toothpaste
comb
soap
hotel size shampoos
trail mix
granola bars
crackers
pack of gum
band aids
mouthwash
coins or predetermined dollar amount (could be used to make a phone call, or purchase a food item)
hand wipes
You could also put in a warm pair of socks, a packet rain poncho, tampons (for women)
The ideas could be endless!
Assemble all the items in the bags, and maybe add a note of encouragement, a Bible verse, or a prayer. Seal the bags and stow in your car for a moment of providence.
For more caring ideas of things you can give to others, order Barbara’s book, “Priceless Gifts — Using What God’s Given You to Bless Others,”either hard copy or an ebook at www.barbaraglanz.com/products/books/.
One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. - Albert Schweitzer -