Random acts of kindness come in all shapes and sizes. February 14-20 is Random Acts of Kindness Week. Join me in participating in this attempt to create a more positive environment.

We currently have an intern working with us in Marketing and that made me wonder what my college job supervisors thought about me back then. So, I decided to look up an old supervisor and send her a thank you note for having a positive influence on my professional life. Val never treated me like a college student, but more like a friend. She had a light-hearted attitude and was always willing to listen to what was going on with me. I wanted her to know how important she was to me during that job and how I believe she had a positive effect on my life. Val was appreciative of the note saying that she feels fortunate to be a part of my growth and success. I believe we all question our value from time to time, and it’s important to remember that the little things do have a big impact. Val probably never expected to hear from me after I graduated, and then 13 years later, I sent her a thank you note. If I could change one thing, I wouldn’t have waited so long to let her know. Now Val knows that she made an impact on at least one student she supervised.

If you think about your workplace, I am sure you can come up with a variety of things you could do make life a little more enjoyable for the people around you. You could bring your co-worker some coffee, bring donuts for your department one day, or leave a friendly note on somebody’s desk. You can go big and organize a blood drive at your company or go small like picking up a piece of paper that somebody dropped. The possibilities are endless, and many times the cheapest acts have the largest impact. There is potential for a tremendous domino effect around a random act of kindness.

For more ideas on implementing random acts of kindness. visit http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/.