Like most business people I spend a great deal of time dreaming of coming up with  the ultimate solution of how to cement relationships with people and until now like many others have come up with absolutely nothing. That is until last week when a simple act opened up a whole new set of possibilities of which I feel I need to share with the world.

I can feel my audience is itching to know what sensational material I have stumbled on, so without further ado let me tell how I discovered this revelation.

 On a recent visit to New York I was checking into a city hotel; stepping up to the reception desk I gave the receptionist a smile and a positive hello, in return she reciprocated and asked how my day had been. Again my response was positive without being too gushing or “over the top”. The outcome of this little exchange led to being upgraded to a suite and whenever I needed assistance from the receptionist, her response was always first class.

It got me thinking, generally in those situations I act in the exactly the same manner, a smile and a positive response to meeting someone new and in fact I can delve into my memory and honestly say the outcome is normally the same, a positive connection .That is not to say I get upgraded in every hotel I book into..

It struck me our society has lost some of the simple keys to establishing relationships, something that costs us nothing unlike most things today; this is in realms of possibility for everyone.

So there it is, my mind blowing solution to one of the world’s problem, a simple smile could be the key in unlocking the mystery that many academics and authors constantly strive for in many thousands of books and publications.

Some may consider the above words rather flippant and naive in tone but I could not be more earnest in my belief that we need to win back ground we have lost in our role as humans dealing with humans in a positive manner.

10^th April 2011

Ken Wood

Adelaide

Australia