This week’s quick list* is a companion piece to our Quote of the Week for the End of Heart Month.

Do people in your organization do business with heart?

Would you like to see more of it?

It’s great for morale.  Great for productivity.  Great for staff retention and customer loyalty.

Here are 10 ways to do more business with heart.

1.  Set a good example.  Do business with heart.  “Doing business with heart” is a phrase I coined years ago to describe a very special way of doing business.  It doesn’t mean being a pushover or a softy.  It means doing work with passion.  It means getting the job done on time and on budget – yet in a way that shows true care and concern for all involved.  Making them feel good – even warming hearts by doing business with heart.

A really cool thing is that the more people do business with heart….the more people do business with heart.  And as more people do business with heart…even more people will do business with heart.

2.  As a reminder to yourself, post this week’s quote on your computer screen.  Or choose another from below.

3.  At your next staff meeting, read one of these stories to the group.  (Or ask for a volunteer to read it).  After reading it, pose these questions to the group.

•       Think of the last time you were on the receiving end of doing business with heart…how did it feel?
•       Do we at ________(name of organization) do business with heart?  You don’t have to answer that now.  Just think about it.  And if you see or can remember an example, bring it to our next staff meeting or send it to me in an e-mail (this covers those who are reluctant to share at staff meetings).

And by the way – if someone does e-mail a story to you,  thank him or her by e-mail.  And then ask if he/she would be willing to share the story at the next meeting. Nudge, encourage, in an effort to bring this person out.  If not, you could read it to the group.

4.  As reinforcement, print and post one or more of the quotes below and post on bulletin boards, hallways, etc.     Do this as soon after the meeting as possible.

5.  At your next staff meeting, ask if anyone thought of an example to share.

• If someone volunteers, ask him/her to share with the group.    If the story is about someone in the room who did business with heart, applaud them!    Discuss if desired.

Don’t be alarmed if no one brings a story.  It takes a while with most groups.  Just be prepared and have one ready in case no one else does or even if they do. Choose a story from a state below.

• Doing Business with Heart in Arizona
• Doing Business with Heart in California 
• Doing Business with Heart in Connecticut
• Doing Business with Heart in D.C.
• Doing Business with Heart in Florida
• Doing Business with Heart in Georgia
• Doing Business with Heart in North Carolina
• Doing Business with Heart in Texas
• Doing Business with Heart in Utah

Close your meeting by saying:  “If you see someone doing business with heart (here or elsewhere), please tell us about it at the next staff meeting.”

If your state or country is not represented in the list above, perhaps that could be an added challenge.  Tell them to bring a story to share so that your state can be represented!!!

6.  Send a note of thanks that same day (preferably with paper & pen instead of e-mail) to any and every person who shared a story at the meeting.  And any person who was mentioned as doing business with heart.  Doesn’t have to be long or fancy.  Just something like:  “Thank you for sharing your story today.  Great for the group to hear.”  Or:  “Thank you for doing business with heart.”

7.  At your next staff meeting, do the same as described in #5 and #6 above.

8.  At your next staff meeting, do the same as described in #5 and #6 above.

9.  Keep it going.   That’s only three meetings so far during which you have discussed doing business with heart.  If this was a list of 20 ways, I would keep repeating for a while.  Invite people to bring such stories to any meeting in the future.  To ensure that the concept is not forgotten, I suggest you bring a story at least once per month.  About something that happened within your organization or outside of it.

10.  Continue reinforcement outside of meetings.   Keep the quotes up.  Change them and their location from time to time to avoid block out.  Send notes  as mentioned in #6.  We invite you to use our Heart Cards if desired.  Find out more here.

_______________________________

These quotes were mentioned in #2,4 and 10.

Use one of the images as background or wallpaper for your computer with just three clicks.

1. Click on the image above.

2. Right click on the image that appears.

3. On the pull down menu that appears, click on “set as background”. Voila!

There’s still plenty of room on the left side of the screen for all your shortcut icons.

Quote of the Week:

Additional options:

Note: If you don’t like your new wallpaper, don’t want to replace it with a quote from the Business Class Quote Library and don’t know how to get rid of it…… Go to your control panel. Select “Display”. Select “Desktop”. And then choose from the designs offered.”

Or print one or more of the PDF versions below. Just click on the printer icon in lower right corner of the image.

Get more tools for take-charge, inspirational leadership! Register to receive our Leadership Quote of the Week.

Need more help building a culture of doing business with heart?

We invite you to tell us about you and your situation here.

Jan’s specialty is working with leaders to take charge in more effective ways, make things happen and inspire others to do the same.

Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Learn more here.

*Note: 10 by 10 on Tuesday (also know as a Quick List) is a weekly feature is for managers who don’t have time or don’t want to make time to read lengthy articles or even short paragraphs. Here you will find 10 tips or questions or steps or ways to Get 2 Goal or Be a Better Manager, etc). And it will be posted by 10 (AM – EST) on Tuesdays. Here’s our collection of Quick Lists to date.