It pays to be a good-finder. This anecdote from Retta Shepherd says a lot: "A few months after my husband and I moved to a small California town, I grumbled to a resident about the poor service at the library. Lo, lo and behold! The next time I went to the library, the librarian had set aside two bestsellers for me and a new biography for my husband. What's more, she appeared to be genuinely happy to see me.

"Later, I reported the miraculous change to my friend. 'Did you tell her how poor we thought the service was?' I asked. 'No,' she confessed. 'In fact, if you don't mind, I told her your husband was amazed at the way she had built up the biographies, and that you thought she showed good taste in the new books she ordered.'"

This is one of many examples that illustrate the fact that people respond more positively to sincere compliments and words of praise than to criticism and condemnation. When you think about it for a moment, you realize why this is true. In cases like the above example, a criticism would have indicated either that the librarian didn't know how to do the job or did not care about doing a good job.

Most of us "get our dander up" when we are criticized like that, consider it "unfair," grow defensive and, as a result, build a wall that makes open communication difficult to achieve. A friendly gesture on our part opens the barrier, and a change of attitude is the result. When attitudes change, we can change the world — at least our world. And that's a step toward changing somebody else's world. Take that approach, and I'll see you at the top!

To find out more about Zig Ziglar and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com. Subscribe to Zig Ziglar's free email newsletter through ziglar.com.

Photo credit: Tumisu at Pixabay