Reprise: Don’t let your egocentric bias stop you from this simple relationship-building practice
This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.
I was listening to a podcast the other day that referenced research I had shared with Monthly-ish Tip subscribers in 2018, which inspired me to reprise the old tip. The research was cited in a New York Times article (sourced by the journal Psychological Science) and points to ways we can all benefit from a variation of a practice that my mom taught me—provided we can get past our misguided assumptions.
The last tip spoke to small acts of inclusivity and kindness that we can make a part of our everyday—specifically, being sure to call people by their name as they wish to be called. This week addresses what to do when our own embarrassment gets in the way of doing just that.
I’ve been reminded about the power and importance of small gestures—not just grand ones—in the face of big challenges. This extends to trust-building. There are small acts of inclusivity and kindness that we can make a part of our everyday—things like being sure to call people by their name as they wish to be called.
At the top of a Mastery workshop a couple of years ago, it became clear that I needed to drop my training curriculum and help the group of leaders manage some unexpected you-know-what that had hit the fan in their organization since the last time we convened. They were understandably dealing with their own reactions while also sorting out how best to show up as trustworthy leaders to their teams and their clients. We paused to make a starter list of how to build and keep trust in tough times. The original tip featured an amended version of that list, including some additions that struck me after we adjourned. I’m reprising the list now because, well, there seems to be a lot of sh** hitting a lot of fans at the moment.