Last Tuesday was a long day.
I presented to about 2,200 middle school students to help them make a great first impression before heading into a youth career expo.
The day involved me working with groups of about 200-300 students at a time for 20 minutes each and then repeating the process again. I was like a broadway show doing the same presentation 8 times.
And it was tiring.
So when I peeled myself off of the couch later in the day, imagine my surprise when I saw this sweet little video clip and social media post.
“Kristin Bock casually educating a thousand students on making a great first impression at Future Fox Cities Career Expo today (and she crushed it.)”
It turns out that one of my latest networking connections was volunteering at the event and took the time to capture a short video clip and share it on LinkedIn as a bit of a shout-out.
How thoughtful!
My new friend, David, is a techie. He brings “custom audio-video and lighting solutions to clients” and is a whiz with smart technology. To him, grabbing a video snippet of me and posting it on social media was like breathing–he didn’t need to even think how to do it.
To me, however, it was an absolute gift.
Even if I had tried to make a short video clip, I would have lost an entire day on it and most likely would have ended up crying and eating an entire sleeve of Girl Scout cookies.
I immediately thanked him, to which he replied “It’s fun to use social to bolster others.”
Awww!
So why does this matter, you ask?
Yes, David did a cool thing but move on already.
Not so fast, I say!
There are many reasons why this was brilliant.
Here are 3 of them:
- David easily demonstrated his value to me and to others. His shoutout was meant to “bolster” me, yet in the process also showcased his talent.
- Science shows that when you compliment someone else, you are viewed more favorably. Basically, when we give a genuine compliment it subconsciously attaches to you in the mind of others. Said another way, positive comments attach to you and make you appear more positive. Beware, the same applies to negative comments so be careful!
- Guess who is forevermore in the David fan club!
So go ahead and get busy lifting others up and lift yourself up in the process.
Your co-pilot (who is still recovering from the following day that involved 500 high schoolers),
P.S.
Want to check out my cool new friend David Kalsow? If so, check out his LinkedIn bio here:
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