#166

Welcome to Weekly Whisper #166.

The miracle of an extra second

My wife is anaphylactic to shellfish… meaning any contamination (cross or otherwise) leads to an immediate trip to A&E – it’s happened twice by accident in the last few years…scary as hell!

Over the last few years, we’ve learnt that mentioning the anaphylaxis is better done right at the start rather than an ‘oh by the way’ at the end. Seems obvious but took us a few occasions to realise.

Still, it’s incredible how some wait staff only hear the ‘transaction’ and fail to pay attention to the customer needs (and fears in our case) sitting right in front of them.

When they acknowledge the anaphylaxis, we can tell immediately whether they have heard AND understood the seriousness of the situation.

Last weekend we went for dinner and begun the conversation with the wait staff as usual.

What was unusual was the response… ’Oh, that must be hard to make a safe choice (whilst maintaining eye contact).

An extra second.

An extra second of an exchange with a customer.

An extra second of eye contact.

An extra second of visible empathy.

An extra second of connection.

An extra second of impact on us.

After we’d finished ordering and the wait staff left the table my wife turned to me, hand on heart, took a big sigh and said, ‘someone gets it’.

To be seen, heard and held is the gift waiting within each miracle second.

So, if you’re serving someone, leading someone, parenting someone, relating to someone…any interaction with another human… then consider investing another second in maintaining connection.

You might never know the disproportionate impact the miracle of an extra second might make.

Freedom Fridays Podcast Episode #88 Featuring Glin Bayley

In Episode 88 Pete chats to Glin Bayley – colleague, author and negotiation Specialist about her new venture, The Value Negotiator and the accompanying book The Negotiation Playbook.

An in depth discussion pointing directly at the wide range of contexts that are negotiable. If you’re interested in negotiating bigger, better deals; negotiating a better salary; negotiating with the kids on screen-time; or even negotiating with yourself, this is a must listen. Glin shares her expertise and touches on topics such as ‘power with’ rather than ‘power over’ and 5 steps to negotiate anything. 
            

                                         

 
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Cheers

Pete