The competitive advantage of kindness

I recently spoke at the Washington Society of Association Executives conference. After my presentation on making meetings more effective, I attended a presentation on kindness by Donna Cameron, author of “A Year of Living Kindly.” She shared some impressive statistics about the return on investment kindness has on an organization.

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What George Washington knew about etiquette

The concept of etiquette and civility has been around for a very long time. I recently finished a novel called “Rules of Civility” that included mention of George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation. Apparently, at age 16, young George (yes, eventual first president of the United States) copied by…

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Do your digital devices have manners?

The other day I was trying to get information on my iPhone by asking Siri, the personal assistant, to help me. As too often happens, Siri was not giving me what I needed. It seems I speak English and she speaks Russian. In frustration, I said, “Siri, you’re not giving me the information I need!”…

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How to impress others through four simple acts

My husband and I recently returned from a week-long 450 mile bike tour in Southeast Idaho. We joined about 300 other people on the tour organized by Bicycle Rides Northwest. This was our fourth excursion with the company and, as always, we had a lot of fun.

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12 months to a better you

It’s the New Year, that time when everyone looks forward to a fresh start. Many people make resolutions such as lose weight, exercise more and eat better. Those are all worthy goals, but what if instead you focused on being a better person? A person who made great first and lasting impressions and who was…

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Airplane Etiquette

A friend and Clise Etiquette Facebook fan asked me about airplane etiquette. She had just returned from a Thanksgiving trip overseas and had experienced some rude behavior on the plane. It’s stressful traveling. We now have to submit to either a revealing x-ray or being intimately touched by TSA. We wait in line and wait…

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Make Kindness Your New Year’s Resolution

I recently wrapped up my 14 week kindness “class”. This class was offered to the general public by the Puget Sound Community School, a private school in Seattle for 11 to 18 year olds. The school founder, Andy Smallman, created the class “to start ripples of kindness that will be felt in far away places,…

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