{"id":1035,"date":"2025-06-29T19:58:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T23:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/?p=1035"},"modified":"2025-06-30T12:26:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T16:26:55","slug":"paving-the-way-for-help-and-reciprocity-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/?p=1035","title":{"rendered":"Paving the Way for Help and Reciprocity in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\"\"Yesterday, we had work done on our patio – pressure washing, repair, sealing, etc. It was 92 degrees, with no shade. My office is in my home, so periodically I checked on progress. I became increasingly concerned about the man doing the work. I loaded up a small cooler with ice and bottles of water and took it out to him.\u00a0 He looked surprised, thanked me, and went back to his tasks. Later he knocked and told me he was finished for the day. Then he said, \u201cBy the way, I power washed your small deck and steps, just my way of saying thanks for being so kind. Just don\u2019t tell my boss!\u201d\u00a0 A simple act of kindness came full circle for me. I didn\u2019t do it to get something in return, rather because I was concerned for him. Sometimes we are kind just because it is the right thing to do. \u00a0Sometimes, it\u2019s just plain smart.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you are newer to the workplace, you may not be aware of how much of your workday may be controlled, at least influenced, made easier or more difficult by people in service roles. Administrative Assistants; Delivery People; Mail Carriers; Security Guards; Schedulers; Lunchroom Servers; Cleaning Staff; Interns, etc.\u00a0 First and foremost, everyone deserves respect. Second, these people can be key in whether your day goes smoothly or it\u2019s a nightmare. Third, if you are a *+& $, the lunchroom server may spit in your tomato soup!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You NEVER know who those people know, who they have great relationships with, what they may be involved with outside of work.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be so narrowly focused that you only can see people on your rung or above as valuable to your career.\u00a0 Perhaps, I don\u2019t need to remind you not to yell at servers when they are backed up or be snippy or snotty because someone has priority work and can\u2019t get to you until later.\u00a0 I\u2019m advocating not just being kind because it\u2019s right.\u00a0 I am advocating going a step further.\u00a0 Get to know these people, as people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I am beyond grateful for a relationship I built ten years ago.\u00a0 I had been hired for a keynote and my main contact was the Admin.\u00a0 We got to know each other rather well prior to the event.\u00a0 At that time, our son and daughter-in-law were living in Columbus with our baby granddaughter.\u00a0 They were eager to be back in Cincinnati with family.\u00a0 The challenge was, at least one of them had to secure a position here before they could move.\u00a0 In my conversations with Chris, the Admin, I mentioned the situation.\u00a0 She asked several questions about my daughter-in-law and then asked me to have her email resume to her.\u00a0 She has a friend at GE who was looking for someone just like Abby.\u00a0 As a result, Chris forwarded the resume, Abby came to Cincinnati for the interview and got the job.\u00a0 Now our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter live seven minutes from us!\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just being kind to her; it was developing a relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How does all this start?\u00a0 Questions and really listening to the answers.\u00a0 But what do you ask someone who you know nothing about?\u00a0 Here are ten questions that might start a relationship, they are inquisitive but not horribly intrusive and they build upon the previous question:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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  1. What\u2019s the best thing that has happened so far today?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  2. What\u2019s made you laugh today?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  3. If you could start the day over, what would you avoid doing?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  4. If you could start the day over, what would you do again?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  5. What surprised you today?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  6. What dumbfounded you today?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  7. If you weren\u2019t at this job today, what would you love to be doing?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  8. What are you dying to do when you leave work today?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  9. What recommendation do you have to make this job easier?<\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
  10. What do you wish I knew about you?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Perhaps many workplace relationships are challenging for you, not just with peripheral individuals.\u00a0 Relationships can make or break your career.\u00a0 It\u2019s critical to know how to effectively develop connections that will aid you in moving your career where you wish it to go.\u00a0 If you struggle with creating workplace bonds, you don\u2019t have to navigate this path alone.\u00a0 Let\u2019s do a complimentary 45-minute telephone consultation to determine if coaching with me might be the guidance you need.\u00a0 Email <\/strong>Kay@highheeledsuccess.com<\/strong><\/a> or call 513-561-4288 to schedule.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Yesterday, we had work done on our patio – pressure washing, repair, sealing, etc. It was 92 degrees, with no shade. My office is in my home, so periodically I checked on progress. I became increasingly concerned about the man doing the work. I loaded up a small cooler with ice and bottles of water<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qkhe-gH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1035"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1039,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions\/1039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}