The laminated sign next to the order and pay point at the cafe read:

“We can’t and we won’t serve you while you are ON the phone. We need to engage.”

These are the first words that greet every single customer (not just the rude ones).

On the flip side, when I email a colleague who has a key leadership role at a multi-billion dollar company, he always responds as if I was the person he most wanted to hear from that morning.
He goes out of his way to make everyone he touches feel like they matter.

Our words communicate much more than the messages we want people to hear. How we use them shapes our thoughts and character—it shows people what we value and conveys the truth about who we are. Our every word has the power to provoke or reassure, draw people in or push them away. We get to choose how well and how wisely we use them.

Image by Steve McClanahan