“When you choose civility you experience respect, gratitude, and humility. Civility is its rewards”.
Dr. Lew Bayer
“When you choose civility you experience respect, gratitude, and humility. Civility is its rewards”.
Dr. Lew Bayer
Civility is …
Conscious awareness of the impact of one’s thoughts, actions, words, and intentions on others; combined with,
A continuous acknowledgment of one’s responsibility to ease the experience of others (e.g., through restraint, kindness, non-judgment, respect, and courtesy); and,
A consistent effort to adopt and exhibit civil behavior as a non-negotiable point of one’s character.
CIVILITY FOR BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS
Civility reflects how one-self presents at an organization and among peers at work with a focus on social intelligence and culturally competent communication. Being otherwise means simply choosing to be incivility. Choosing civility can be very difficult. It takes courage. But the benefits are immeasurable.
P.M. Forni says, “A crucial measure of our success in life is the way we treat one another every day of our lives.“
For individuals, civility offers an opportunity to show one’s true character, to exhibit the best of oneself through kindness and generosity, and courtesy. When people are civil to each other, they choose non-judgment and behave in ways that contribute to the collective good. This builds trust, strengthens relationships, and helps us all get along together in society.
For businesses and organizations it increases engagement, reduced stress, higher retention, greater productivity, and more consistent team-orientation, the research shows that companies that openly promote civil communication among employees earn 30% more revenue than competitors.
CIVILITY AT WORKPLACE
Would it surprise you to know that 80% of people are dissatisfied with their jobs? The social landscape in our workplaces is changing. Who we work with, how we work, when we work, how we communicate, and what we perceive as effective, respectful, professional, ethical, and kind has also changed. But many of us haven’t changed the way we think, the way we make decisions, or how we interact, and we’re not ready for change. In the new world of work, you need a new set of social competencies- skills to help you build trust, to foster collaboration, to communicate effectively, to navigate differences, and to be change ready.
Be “etiquette-wise” and avoid social and business faux pas that can cost their reputation
Exhibit high personal standards and lead by example
Navigate sticky situations related to rudeness and incivility in the workplace
Feel confident in a variety of business and social setting
Leverage their social savvy and be more socially competent
Set goals based on personal and professional priorities
HOW DOES SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE RELATE TO CIVILITY?
Following etiquette rules in the workplace exemplifies your civil attitude. The “rules” are contextual and situational—because there are so many possible factors and scenarios and because you can never know all the rules all the time, you need to:
Use your social radar to interpret situations.
Adopt an attitude of civility.
Choose to consistently exhibit high personal standards for behavior.
To maintain primary relationships, you need to be able to get along in the world and to communicate respect and consideration through how you look, act and speak. The world is a busy, stressful place, particularly the work world. Knowing how to leverage your Social Intelligence—that is, using your knowledge about how to make others comfortable, to represent yourself and your organization at a high standard, and to communicate effectively—is a relatively easy but very powerful, positive, and productive thing to do.
Social Intelligence is one of the four skills critical to build Civility.
Hi! I’m Geeva
Geeva Samynathan is a strong believer that every individual is uniquely different. She believes every individual has a personal brand with skills, experience, and personality that you want others to see and experience. It tells a story about you, it reflects on your conduct, behavior, spoken and unspoken words, attitude, and self-image. A positive personal branding not only raises your confidence level but automatically makes you stand out in the crowd. Geeva is a Certified Social Competence Master Trainer with the International Civility Trainers’ Consortium (ICTC), Canada. She is a World Citizen Global Training Ambassador and Civility Envoy. Geeva has been appointed as the Industrial Research Partner with Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. The research aims to explore students’ awareness and examine the presence of Social Intelligence.
We are an official reseller for Civility Experts Inc. Social Intelligence Certification Program.
For more information about our workshops, training, certification programs or schedule a meeting with Geeva,
email us at TALK2US@ECTAA.COM
Adapted with permission from Civility Experts Worldwide Inc