Tom Rohrer
PhD, MFT

Mailing Address
1250-I Newell Ave., No. 225
Walnut Creek, CA 94596

925-595-6433
Email:drtom@success
workscoaching.com
Web:www.successworks
coaching.com and
www.tomrohrer.com

As a performance coach and the owner of Success Works Coaching, Tom works with individuals, groups and businesses on a range of human performance issues.

Tom will help you get clarity on your goals and provide strategies to achieve them, while keeping a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Coaching will help you increase your happiness, health and success.

Through coaching, Tom will help you uncover your cognitive, emotional and psychological obstacles, develop your best personal structure and the strategies and tools for developing your optimum performance.

Focuses:
  * Building Resilience
  * Authentic Happiness
  * Conflict Resolution
  * Public Speaking
  * Sports Performance
  * Test/Evaluation Anxiety

For more information about Success Works Coaching visit www.success
workscoaching.com and
www.tomrohrer.com

925-595-6433
Email:drtom@success
workscoaching.com

In This Issue

As Thanksgiving approaches, we're asked to reflect upon what we're grateful for. Taking that one step further and expressing that gratitude can have a powerful impact in our work environments and, even, on the bottom line. As you read through the ezine, please don't hesitate to call if I can help.

The Business of Gratitude
Beyond the Box
Relevant Reading
Today's Quote

The Business of Gratitude

Thanksgiving means different things to different people. For some it's a time for family and friends. For others it's a day off for football and food. There is one meaning, however, that's hard to escape when it comes to Thanksgiving: the holiday is about giving thanks.

Research has shown that giving thanks is good for us. People who show gratitude in their daily lives tend to report fewer health problems and display higher levels of energy, enthusiasm and productivity.

If gratitude is so good for our personal lives, can expressing thanks in our work environments impact our effectiveness too?

Absolutely.

The expression of gratitude as a business strategy can be powerful. So powerful, in fact, it can help increase the inward flow of income and opportunities and elevate happiness and fulfilment in life in general.

While many employers and business owners recognize and are thankful for the support of clients and staff, a lot of them tend to let that gratitude go unexpressed. That's a mistake.

Here are a few ways to put gratitude to work for you:

Share the Gratitude
Send "thank you" notes. They let people know you notice and acknowledge them, plus they're a potent way to strengthen relationships that result in referrals. Email works, but a hand-written card packs a punch.

Not convinced?

A writer once had a favorable review of her first book in a trade magazine. She was grateful and wrote the reviewer to say thanks. The reviewer wrote back saying that in 11 years of writing reviews, she'd received only three "thank yous." Months later, the reviewer called the writer with an exciting assignment – all thanks to a thank-you note!

Give the Gift of...
Who doesn't like free swag? Whether it's a t-shirt, mug, sticker or gift certificate to a client's favorite restaurant, a gift raises the level of gratitude. It also acts as a marketing strategy if it bears your logo or contact info.

Get on the Horn
An out-of-the-blue phone call to say "thanks" can make someone's day as well as making a big impression. It sets you apart as a thoughtful person to do business with. The key is having no agenda other than to say thanks. If it results in business, chalk it up as a bonus (and natural) by-product of gratitude.

Practice Random Acts of Kindness
Doing something nice for someone, "just because," is a great way to cultivate good will, and it encourages others to "pass it on" via business opportunities or referrals.

Share the Wealth
Tithing is making a comeback. What is a tithe? It's when a person voluntarily puts aside 10% of earnings to be paid to one's place of worship. Although its roots are found in religion, tithing is becoming popular in the business world. It's easy to be grateful for one's own good fortune, but it can feel even better to share with others – a warm "thank you" via cold hard cash.

Make a Note
There is something powerful and impactful about the act of putting something in writing. Keeping a gratitude journal is an effective way to maximize the impact. You don't need a unicorn-adorned notebook for journaling. Sticky notes, scrap paper or napkins work just as well. The effectiveness is found in the action of writing it down.

Start each day by listing three (or more) things you're grateful for: a loving partner, healthy kids, a wunderkind assistant, that singing bird outside your window--you get the idea.

Find a Symbol
What embodies gratitude for you? It might be a rock from your recent vacation, beads on a necklace your child made you or a simple token on a key chain. The idea is to have something tangible that you can see and touch when you need to be reminded that you have something to be grateful for.

Gratitude is just as useful when things are going wrong. In fact, incorporating the strategies above are often the most powerfully beneficial when times are the toughest.

Good times or bad, one thing is certain: gratitude isn't just good for business. Once people make a habit of giving thanks they tend to agree, showing gratitude just feels good.

The following questions are designed to broaden perspectives, to open vistas, to widen the lens. There is no one right way to approach them. You can journal about them, talk to friends, create art, ponder them while driving, work out to them--whatever helps you explore "outside the box."

1. How have you benefited professionally by sincerely expressing your gratitude?
   
   
2. In your work environment, who deserves, but hasn't lately received, your thanks and appreciation?
   
   
3. How appreciated and acknowledged do you feel by those you work with?

Relevant Reading

Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success, by Jessica Pryce-Jones

It's Not Just Who You Know: Transform Your Life (and Your Organization) by Turning Colleagues and Contacts into Lasting, Genuine Relationships, by Tommy Spaulding

Crisis of Character: Building Corporate Reputation in the Age of Skepticism, by Peter Firestein

Today's Quote

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others."
~Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

Copyright 2010 Claire Communications