How putting the toilet seat down relates to winning in business
A few years back I hired a marketing consultant to help me with a brand refresh. Our first meeting was at my office—aka my house. We had a great meeting and he went on to do great work for me (coincidentally, seven years later he’s finishing another project for me). Anyhow, later that day back in 2015, a while after my wife gets home, she says,
“Who was in the bathroom ?”
“Neil. Why ?”
“He put down the toilet seat and he closed the cover !”
I hadn’t noticed and I’m not sure how Lyn noticed as she doesn’t even use that bathroom. “So what’s the big deal ?” I say.
“Steve, you don’t put the seat down and close the cover for yourself. You do it for others.”
His actions had a huge impact on Lyn because when she met Neil for the first time, she treated him as if he walked on water—simply because he was considerate of others with his bathroom manners and because his behaviour was unexpected (toilet seat is expected, but the cover is not).
What happens with companies that focus on others and do the unexpected ? In short, they win.
And it’s in your power to help the people in your company focus more on others interests (like those of clients, staff and other stakeholders) instead of their own self-interests, and it does not require a massive change initiative.
In fact it’s quite simple.
The research is clear—build the character trait of gratitude. It gets your eyes off of yourself and focused on others and inspires you to act in unexpected ways that others will notice and appreciate.
If you want some ideas on how to make it happen, see our complimentary Gratitude at Work Playbook which you can find here.
