I Almost Got A DMV Employee To Smile...
Mindset Monday
Here’s a story about how I almost got a DMV employee to smile.
Last week I had to get my car registered in New Jersey.
That meant a trip to the DMV—a place notorious for frustrated, crabby workers and patrons.
We started off rough.
As I check-in for my appointment, I am ushered off to window #11. I walk past the rows of uncomfortably designed chairs, filled with people waiting to hear their number called. You can feel the tension in the room immediately.
I walk up directly to window #11, counting my blessings that there is no one in front of me. Immediately I’m told to step back and wait to be called; met with a tone of annoyance.
I meet that hostility head on with a pleasant apology.
A few moments later she calls me to the window, I meet her with a smile and ask how she is. At first, she ignores it and ask for my paperwork. As she rummaging through, she pulls out a form from her desk and begins highlighting areas I need to fill out. I stand patiently.
The woman explains what I need to complete, and sends me around the corner to finish the task.
I return to the same woman moments later. The greeting is slightly more pleasant. “Did you fill everything out?” she asks.
“I certainly hope so.” I respond, along with a subtle joke about not being inadequate enough to miss any of the fields.
Alas, it appears I was inadequate because I missed the whole backside of the form she explicitly told me not to forget.
She holds it up to show me the blank form. I shake my head and smile.
“I knew it felt too easy,” I said.
She smiles, hands it to back to me, and tells me to quickly fill it out right at the window. She responds in a soft tone that feels like kindness and warmth.
The most amazing part of the story is yet to come…
After she finishes, she hands me a ticket, tells me to sit down and wait to be called to the next window. While waiting, I do what any self-respecting person does at the DMV: I people watch.
What I noticed was astonishing.
From that moment on, every person she interacted with she met with a smile and a pleasant hello. Of all 15 employees working the counter, this woman was the only person who looked relaxed.
And that trend continued for every person that came to her window. More pleasant interactions, more smiles, more good energy radiating from this one line of people.
And of all places, at the DMV.
This experience reminded me of a powerful insight that can make you irresistibly likable:
You can let the energy in a room affect you, or you can be the one who changes it.
And while changing one person’s experience might not seem like much, it has a cascading effect. A subconscious, “paying it forward,” of kindness.
Impacting one person’s energy carries over to each person they interact with too.
It may not always be the DMV. It could be your office at work. It could be the doctor’s office, the post office, or the car rental counter at the airport.
You can choose not to be impacted by the mood of others.
Be the person that positively shifts the energy in every room you walk into.
~ Coach Alex
P.S. Do you have a story like this that you’ve experienced? Reply to this email and share it with me!