Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Well said.

Thanks Blaine -- and you added two more words that power start a person's day for profit. Thanks for speaking them to me - at the start of a busy day! Best wishes for your own day!

How about "I appreciate you"? One of our employees was out on Tues. and Wed. and I had a lot of extra work and stress as a result. She is a behind the scenes worker and does a lot of things that make my day easier, so when she's not there I suffer. I was a feeling a little annoyed by all the extra work and then I realized just how much easier she makes my life. I went to her today and said "You know it was really hard on me while you were out". She looked devastated until I said "It really made me appreciate all you do here. Thank you". There is always more than one way to look at a situation. In all those ways, there is at least one productive way.
Ellen, I appreciate your thoughtful and insightful posts. They make me a better thinker.
Linda

Linda, thanks for this moving story, for your kind words, and for the inspiration to look at how the brain really can work in our favor more! Bravo -- you made the day a good one, and I am so glad it spilled over into this brain based site!

Ellen, I didn't always have the knowledge to use my ability to think in this better way. One of the things that brought me to this was a book that was suggested to me by Ed Brenegar. It is called Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Institute. By reading it, I learned to be out of my box toward others. So a year or so ago, I might have acted on my initial feeling of annoyance at the extra work I had to do and spoken harshly to this employee about not being able to depend on her and so on. Instead I looked further than my reaction to the reason I had more work. Then I could see it was because when she is there, she does such a good job that she makes my life easier. It seems simple, but then all true wisdom really is with us all the time. We just can't wait long enough for the stupidity cloud to clear so we can see it. Now, if I know that what I will say will diminish someone, I just don't say it.
Linda

Wow - Linda - you are so in tune with new research about the brain on this one. You should consider writing a book on this topic! I'll be first in line to buy a copy, and I'll bet ed Brenegar would write a brilliant foreward! Thanks for stopping by, Linda, and for the inspiration.

In college we learned about motivation in personnel management. Words can put possitive reaction and boost energy on the employees to do more and better. Not necessarily increase in pay. Some employees do the same work for 10 to 20 years. I visited my old workers they seem so worn out. Some stick to the job is purely financial.

I agree with phrases 1-4, unless you're dealing with customers/ potential customers. If it's a customer you're speaking to, "your welcome" should never be used. The appropriate response to "thank you" should ALWAYS be "Thank YOU". In general, the phrase "you're welcome" should probably be replaced by "anytime" or "no problem"; since these terms give the impression that whatever assistance provided was actually no problem, or not a burden.