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Make Someone's Day: Becoming a Memorable Leader in Work and Life
The most powerful words someone can say to you are "You made my day!" You haven't just committed an act of kindness when you hear those words. You have done something at the right time and in the right way that may turn someone's day or even life around, inspire and motivate them, or get them unstuck. As a leader, it's a most powerful tool for inspiring your colleagues and staffers. As a person, it's heart-lifting and impactful to those around you. With many examples and short exercises, Make Someone's Day teaches you how to make people feel like VIPs.
- GenresLeadership
208 pages, Paperback
Published September 21, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 27, 2021
Howard Prager, in "Make Someone’s Day: Becoming a Memorable Leader in Work and Life," consistently provides numerous stories worth emulating. At a time when we are often preoccupied by the challenges and tragic effects the spread of the coronavirus has had on work and play, Prager finds a way, through what he does and through his wonderfully inspiring book, to spread an entirely different sort of virus—one that “infects” us with joy and gratitude to combat the depression, divisiveness, and meanness that has become such a prevalent, overwhelming, and often unchallenged part of our daily lives. His story-driven book, full of examples of people who have made his and other people’s day, consistently circles back to how the simple act of telling someone that he has made their day does, in fact, make their day as well. Very much grounded in the spirit of engaging in random acts of kindness, his approach turns simple acts into an almost subversively positive way to give us one of the greatest gifts anyone can give us: a sense of joy and an overt acknowledgement of the power supportive individuals play in nurturing and sustaining the best of the organizations and communities to which we belong.
“Compliments can be thought of as little gifts of love,” Prager writes (p. 51). “They are not asked for or demanded. They tell a person they are worthy of notice. Complements are a great way to acquire and practice social interaction skills because the returns are immediate. They foster a positive atmosphere and further communication and allow for better two-way exchanges. The more specific you can be and the closer to the actual event, the more people know that they are being complimented about and makes their day.”
It's a strong passage in a book filled with strong passages and full of advice we can adapt immediately. But what makes it—and much of the rest of the content of the book—meaningful is that it is immediately followed by an anecdote that brings the message home strongly and clearly to any reader: the story of how Prager’s brother-in-law John made a fifth-grade student’s day by telling this “amazing girl” (who was clearly lacking in self-confidence in spite of having just won an award for an essay about how “beauty comes from within and that everyone is beautiful in their own way”) that she, too, “was an amazing girl,” a “beautiful” girl (“Don’t let anyone tell you differently”), and one with “a bright future.” Her reaction, the author tells us, was to thank John for the kind words as “tears welled in her eyes.” And the wonderful punch line to John’s action was, as he told Prager, that “I hope that in some small way I made her day, because her tears and essay certainly made mine.”
We could spend all day sharing stories from Make Someone’s Day, but you can read them yourselves. And then, to our own benefit and the benefit of those around us, adapt them into our own daily routines to make someone else’s day.
“Compliments can be thought of as little gifts of love,” Prager writes (p. 51). “They are not asked for or demanded. They tell a person they are worthy of notice. Complements are a great way to acquire and practice social interaction skills because the returns are immediate. They foster a positive atmosphere and further communication and allow for better two-way exchanges. The more specific you can be and the closer to the actual event, the more people know that they are being complimented about and makes their day.”
It's a strong passage in a book filled with strong passages and full of advice we can adapt immediately. But what makes it—and much of the rest of the content of the book—meaningful is that it is immediately followed by an anecdote that brings the message home strongly and clearly to any reader: the story of how Prager’s brother-in-law John made a fifth-grade student’s day by telling this “amazing girl” (who was clearly lacking in self-confidence in spite of having just won an award for an essay about how “beauty comes from within and that everyone is beautiful in their own way”) that she, too, “was an amazing girl,” a “beautiful” girl (“Don’t let anyone tell you differently”), and one with “a bright future.” Her reaction, the author tells us, was to thank John for the kind words as “tears welled in her eyes.” And the wonderful punch line to John’s action was, as he told Prager, that “I hope that in some small way I made her day, because her tears and essay certainly made mine.”
We could spend all day sharing stories from Make Someone’s Day, but you can read them yourselves. And then, to our own benefit and the benefit of those around us, adapt them into our own daily routines to make someone else’s day.
July 11, 2023
I am rating this book as a 4 as it has a good message, content, and ideas. However I can honestly tell you I didn't finish it, it was just too repetitive for me and in my opinion could be cut in half. What I mean by that is once you get the main message you can really make anyone's day.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews