Great advice can come from the most unexpected places — maybe it’s a line from a song you hear on shuffle or perspective gained from a struggle or personal loss.
But if you think you can’t find a valuable life lesson in academic research, you’re missing out on some serious wisdom. #UHBauer faculty not only advance innovation and meet industry need in their research, but they also provide some enlightening approaches to apply to your everyday interactions.
Manners matter.
Saying “please” and “thank you” isn’t just something your parents taught you as a child. #UHBauer Associate Professor of Management & Leadership Tony Kong’s research explores the benefits for employers in expressing gratitude in the workplace.
In a series of studies, one of which was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in 2018, Tony Kong and his colleagues (Liuba Belkin, Maria Ng and Vanessa Patrick) found that individuals who express gratitude to others, by simply saying thank you, saw significant gains in customer purchases and trust, among other areas.
Attitude is everything.
Your satisfaction with work or a project has a lot to do with your perception, according to a #UHBauer consumer psychologist.
Assistant Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship Melanie Rudd examines how people can attain a greater sense of meaning in life in a recent study, “Making Time Matter,” published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.
In a review of three decades of research on time and meaning, Rudd explores how people can break down an abstract, fuzzy concept into small, concrete changes in approach that can have a powerful impact, she says.
“When you hear someone saying, ‘I’m just not doing anything meaningful at work,’ maybe people aren’t conscious of the legacy they are leaving behind, and there may be things we can add into the job structure or mission statement that help build a more meaningful career narrative,” Rudd says. “Or, it may be that we can add an opportunity to volunteer and enhance meaning another way.”
Walk the talk.
The project planning phase can be fun, invigorating and exciting. The execution? Not so much, for many people. #UHBauer Professors Dusya Vera and Vanessa Patrick worked with Ph.D. alumnus Alex Tawse to identify a gap between planning and implementation, connecting the challenge to self-control and proposing a framework for managers to be more successful in executing plans to complete projects.
