Joanne Ford: Five Star Service But No Tip!Are you overdelivering and under-appreciated?

Joanne started her session with an unusual question: she asked us to describe ourselves as a product. She explained that the exercise was meant for us to see how we actually estimate our value. Are we a bottle of champagne? Or are we a roll of toilet paper? 

Regardless of what products we picked, she reminded us that the simple fact of us being who we are makes us valuable people. We all worked very hard to be where we are. A lack of appreciation from others doesn’t influence our value. 

“Your value does not decrease by someone’s inability to see your worth”

She mentioned that for language professionals it’s natural to be wanting what’s best for our clients. It’s essential though that we focus on what’s best for us as well. 

Moving on, Joanne helped us realise that the thoughts are what usually cause our stress, not the event itself that we supposedly stress about. 

She encouraged us to imagine a lemon – its texture, smell and taste. What were the reactions of our bodies to the lemon thoughts?

The experiment’s point was to prove that the body does react to our thoughts because the brain can’t determine what is real and what is not. Therefore, it’s important for us to always establish what is fact and what is fiction. After a stressful event, to gain a perspective, it would be helpful to sit and write exactly what happened there, focusing on facts only, leaving emotions behind.

“Get your emotions under control, regroup and move forward.”

That’s the recipe to keeping a healthy mind and body. 

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Next, Joanne gave us an example of a fascinating mind path to follow when we’re thinking about increasing our prices and presenting them to our clients. At this point, confidence is the key. Know your value and stick to it, she advised.

The next question for us to think about was: What do you focus on when you get feedback from people: positive or negative comments? We were almost unanimous: the negative ones tend to occupy our minds the most.

Joanne presented us with a method that would allow us to detect whether a comment is actually worth giving any thought to: let it in (if it’s constructive) or let it go. 

She encouraged us to celebrate our achievements, be our own cheerleaders. To conclude the session, we heard:

“the result of your work is priceless and you are all priceless.”

We believe that Joanne’s talk was very much needed. It gave us a boost of motivation and was also a reminder that we deserve to give ourselves a break sometimes. We wrapped it up with a lively Q&A session and, after a quick break, we moved on to the next session.

Books mentioned in Joanne’s talk

• A Woman in Your Own Right:  Assertiveness and You  – Anne Dickinson
• S.U.M.O (Shut Up, Move On) – Paul McGee
• Everyday Resilience: A Practical Guide to Build Inner Strength and Weather Life’s Challenges – Gail Gazelle, MD
• I Am Enough – Marisa Peer
• The Success Principles:  How to Get from Where You Are to Where you Want to Be – Jack Canfield
• Paul McGee has also written a book for teenagers called “Yesss!:  The S.U.M.O Secrets to being a Positive, Confident Teenager.”

About the Speaker:

To set up a free, no-obligation 30-minute call with Joanne, use her Calendly link: