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If you cannot see this here, you can view it at http://www.peopleempowered.com.au/newsletters |
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Newsletter February 18, 2010 The Five Love Languages - Soft Skills for Business. |
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You are probably wondering why I am writing about "Love Languages" in a newsletter about A few weeks ago, Kirsty Dunphy wrote an article on the book "The Five Love Languages" and how they relate to business in SmartCompany.com. Kirsty's opinion is worth taking notice of - the
youngest ever Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year and a string of
other achievements as well. I'd read the book a number of years ago and used the ideas in my counselling of couples in relationship. It has some great ideas in it with which couples really identify. I'd never thought of its ideas as applying to workplaces, but her article triggered my interest so back I went to the bookshelf and found the book. In the book, the author, Gary Chapman, asks how you keep love alive in a marriage when "people speak different love languages". He sees five different love languages in his work with couples: 1. Words of Affirmation, 2. Quality Time, 3. Receiving Gifts, 4. Acts of Service, 5. Physical Touch. All of us have a primary love language that is our way of expressing love. Our partner, however may have an entirely different love language with which we don't identify. So we don't even recognise when our partner is showing his/her love for us. To keep love alive in our marriages we need to learn a secondary love language - that of our partners - and they have to learn ours! This will only happen, however, when couples sit down and talk about this together. So What Has This To Do With Our Workplaces? What Gary Chapman is talking about also happens in our workplaces. How do you as a leader or manager express to your people your gratitude and appreciation for what they are doing for your organisation or business? How do you reward them for their contribution? How do you recognise the difference they are making? What "languages" do you use? Could it be that your people don't identify with, or recognise, the "languages" you use as a leader or manager to show your appreciation? So they don't feel valued and appreciated, even though you are trying to convey that. Over and over again in my workshops, I've heard people talk about this. Some people want a monetary bonus. Most people want to be verbally told they are doing a great job. Valuing and appreciating our people and using appropriate ways to do that is an important soft skill to develop. Tell Me What "Languages of Appreciation" You Want Your Manager To Use I'll publish the ideas in a future newsletter and give a copy of Discover Everything You Need To Know About Coaching - Before You Engage a Coach, my ebook on coaching and the audio of the e-book to the person who can come up with the best list.
 Maree Harris. PhD.
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Time Management Tip. I found this tip from Michael Sheargold in one of my files during the week. I wrote it on a card and put it right in front of me so I can see it every day. You may find it helpful also. Decluttering. Toss it. Action it. Send it. Keep it.
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Reprinting Material from the People Empowered Newsletter. A number of people in the Survey we did raised the possibility of reproducing articles from our newsletter in their own organisational newsletters. This has always been possible (see details in the section at the bottom of the newsletter). The reason I have asked that people seek permission is to guard against the reproduction of my material without any acknowledgement of its source which is very common on the internet. From now on, all subscribers to the People Empowered newsletter can reproduce articles from the newsletter as long as they include on the bottom the following short biography: Maree Harris. PhD. is the Director of People Empowered. She is a coach, consultant and facilitator of professional development, specialising in the development and enhancement of soft skills. www.peopleempowered.com.au Any item that is specifically taken from someone else, like Michael Sheargold's tip above, obviously can be used without reference to me.
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professional development. Let me explain.