Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
For the past 18 years I have had the privilege of being internationally recognized as the leading expert on civility in the workplace. With release of The 30% Solution in April 2016, I have written (or co-authored) 10 books. I am currently Executive Director of The National Civility Center, Founder of the In Good Company Franchise Group, CEO of Civility Experts Inc., Director of the International Civility Trainers’ Consortium, and President of Center for Organizational Cultural Competence.
Civility Experts Inc is a multinational training company with 85 affiliates in 23 countries. We specialize in civility initiatives, assessments, training solutions, and presentations. We recently launched the Macaroni and Please campaign whereby we are giving away – no fee, the Macaroni and Please trainers toolkit to teachers, parents, community program coordinators, and child care professionals who want to teach children ages 5-8 manners.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I was shocked to learn that 80% of people are dissatisfied with their jobs, this according to Business Insider. In addition, 96% of employees polled in a workplace study conducted by Pearson and Porath experiencing rudeness at work and 76% of people responding to ICTC surveys cited uncivil work culture as the primary cause of stress in their lives. Given the statistics above, it seemed to me there’s an obvious correlation between stress, incivility, and dissatisfaction at work. The good news is- our research shows that by implementing strategic training in four core competency areas we can build better workplaces. And, there is evidence that when we can create cultures of civility, there is positive impact to productivity, to retention, to stress levels, to engagement and to the bottom line. This is exciting to me and the belief that we can manage incivility and be happy at work inspired me to write The 30% Solution.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, I didn’t realize until just now that it’s a habit, but I have this jade Budda necklace that I seem to be wearing when I do all my best writing. Not so unusual I guess. Otherwise, just little things like, I mostly write between 1-4am. I like to burn a particular lemon scented candle, and I don’t show anyone the work until it’s finished.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am a big fan of Thoreau. I also like Thomas Moore, and most recently Mary Oliver. Related to my work in civility, Stephen Carter, Karl Albrecht, Pier Forni.
What are you working on now?
I am working on The Civility Competency Matrix – Skills for building a culture of civility in your workplace. It’s the sequel to The 30% Solution.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Honestly, I really count on my publisher, Justin Sachs at Motivational Press and I have an amazing publicist, Tracy Lamourie. Other than that I have found that including the books as part of my training/speaking packages has been really helpful in raising awareness. Recently I’ve learned that there is a whole lot of very influential book bloggers out there too- and so now I am trying to learn more about that.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just know that writing the book is the easy part. Selling the book- leveraging the book- that’s the hard part and you really need some supports to do it well.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get over yourself! The world is busy and everyone has his/her own priorities and worries. Often the things we are freaking out about, e.g., a cancelled webinar, a typo, etc…these are things the rest of the world barely notices never mind cares about. While it’s important to have standards, don’t be so busy beating yourself up and sweating the small stuff to enjoy the journey.
What are you reading now?
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho.
What’s next for you as a writer?
If I could not work, and just write, I would LOVE to do that. I feel I have about 20 books in me. My goal is to write a book a year- even if they don’t get published, I”m going to write them, just for the pure joy of it.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Walden, By Henry David Thoreau, The Bible, A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver,
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