Have you ever noticed how you respond to someone with a smile? Ever stood in line for a long time? You know that feeling where you are stuck there, you feel the tension, and the line only moves a tiny bit at a time. Then you get up there. Do you smile? How do you feel if the person you are speaking with does not smile? Or, if they do? When I come bursting into class on my first day, besides cranking up some of my favorite rock music, I try to smile often for my students, most of whom are really nervous about being there.
When my wife and I went to Europe for our 20th anniversary back in 2009, our visit to Prague had some surprises for us. When the two of us were children, Prague was part of a communist country; of course that ended in 1989, so I think we expected a sense of joy. Kind of a “hooray, we are no longer stuck in some communist nightmare, so we will always have a happy smile doing whatever type job we can.”
Nope. Instead, everywhere we turned, it seemed as if most of the people we met were so unhappy, so bored. The negative attitude was pretty evident around us. And that’s the point—the negative energy was something that we felt as we went around.
Worse, it wasn’t as if people were angry, but rather these various citizens, waitresses, store clerks, attendants at tourist locations seemed bored and just unhappy. Now, coming from Orlando, one of the world’s destination cities, I know something about people working low-paying jobs to serve visitors. These are typically not jobs that can feed a family of four or offer great routes of advancement. However, the other side of the story is that it still is a job and the attitude still carries weight.
Here’s my point—what you do matters. More, HOW you do it and your attitude while you do it is HUGE!! I realize it is so easy to get negative when you think you are underpaid. I know it’s hard to keep a smile facing the 100th customer. Sometimes you are tired, cranky or dealing with your own personal issues, thus not at your best. However, what you should be thinking about is “am I smiling,”…“am I being positive to this single customer?”
This attitude is critical if you want to be successful in life. It will be noticed by your boss, as well as your customers. If you don’t think so, just realize that I am now writing to you about various employees that I met in Prague. For instance, we stayed in an awesome hotel, based on location, yet the workers there were, well, just not interested in being helpful. Compare that to our hotel in Vienna—there, every person we met we smiling, positive and concerned with our stay. Back in Prague, the sad little girl doing the morning breakfast was seemingly in bored agony every day.
It wasn’t all bad, of course, and those people we met who were friendly, like the owner at the incredible Hracky Houpaci kun (the Rocking Horse Toy Shop) up near Castle or the “ticket taker” at the National Marionette Theater showing Don Giovanni. But these people were few and far between and the negativity and blasé attitude became pretty annoying after a while.
As a professor, I believe that I am somewhat in charge of the attitude in the classroom. Of course the students help or hinder that, but overall, I set the tone. We started a few weeks back. Being positive and having a smile is, I think, part of the secret of my success having super first days.
Next time you are bored while on the job, just think that the next customer is seeing you for only the first time. To them, you represent the store and are looking to you to help them have a super experience. The great Joe Dimaggio of the New York Yankees was asked why he played so hard during every game, even when his team was well ahead in the game or the season—his reply should guide us all. He said “There might be somebody out there who’s never seen me play.” So, play hard, give your best. The same applies at work—that may the only time that someone interacts with you at that store, in that setting. So, meet them with a smile!