September Birthstone and Flower

September's flower of the month is the Aster,
symbolizing Love, Faith, Light, and Wisdom.



 






September's birthstone is the Sapphire. The sapphire comes in many colors and symbolizes truth, sincerity, faithfulness, and loyalty. While Sapphires are the stone for September, the Star Sapphire is especially considered September's birthstone.

 

Workplace Civility and Negativity

Is it raining in your workplace? You may be familiar with the saying, "Don't rain on my parade!" Have you ever rained on someones parade, either intentionally or unintentionally? Has someone rained on your parade?

At work, some examples of this "rain" are: negatively responding to an idea for an improved process, interrupting others, not listening, having sidebar conversations while someone is presenting, checking text messages while in a face-to-face conversation, speaking down to another, speaking ill of someone behind their back, taking a superior attitude, being demanding, belittling, or intimidating others, and much more.

"Negativity is a little like rain. When there's just a little, you can go out for a walk in it and put up with the inconvenience of a slight dampening process. When the water is bucketing down, especially if accompanied by thunder and lightening, it is hard to find any shelter from which you can completely ignore the prevailing climate." (Jonathan Cainer)

What type of climate do you experience in your workplace? Are you the rain or the shelter?

Six Tips to Creating Workplace Civility and Respect

What some may view as little things in the workplace can be larger things to someone else. Here are six seemingly "small" behaviors that that individuals have within their control to enhance and encourage a respectful workplace:
 1.  arriving on time to meetings
 2.  dressing appropriately
 3.  saying "thank you", "I'm sorry"
 4.  giving praise publicly and criticism privately
 5.  considering impact of words and actions on others
 6.  keeping volume down when speaking near others workspaces

You needn't wait for someone else to "make the first move" to create a better work environment. You can take the first step.

Civility isn't one "grandiose event", rather it is many small things that when lacking, stand out like a sore thumb.

For additional reading on workplace civility and civility in general, see the book, The Power of Civility.