Monday, May 24, 2010

The Power of a Letter

I enjoy writing letters. It's my favorite way to communicate. One thing I've made a special effort to do with letters is send support to someone I hear or read about to whom I want to send thanks or offer support.

In early May I read a Time magazine article about Ron Rubin, CEO of the Republic of Tea, who made it his mission to improve the benefits and working atmosphere at his company in spite of a downward spiraling economy.

I sent a letter to Mr. Rubin thanking him for taking the initiative to be caring and proactive regarding his employees' well- being. In my brief note, I explained that he is inspiring as a leader and is also, hopefully, setting standards for other CEOs to follow suit.

To my delight and surprise I received a package from Republic of Tea with the 3 canisters of tea (pictured in this post) as well as a thank you note written by Mr. Rubin. How nice is that? While a response is not expected, it is always welcomed. In addition to the recognition of receipt of my letter, his response also inspires me to send more goodwill.

This is the sixth letter I've sent this year, and the first to which I received a response. I recently started to keep a folder with a note on who/why/what/when.  This helps me recall who I actually sent a letter to rather than who I thought I sent a letter to.

I'd like to hear who you have sent a letter/note/card to and any response you received.

4 comments:

Karla@TheClassyWoman said...

Wow! That's awesome! It's always nice when someone who is busy takes the time to write you back.

I love their bottled cold tea drinks-so many wonderful notes in each tea. :)

BTW, pop on over...you won my giveaway for the $50 gift certificate to Pear Tree Greetings! Congrats!

http://theclassywoman.blogspot.com/2010/05/stylish-stationery-giveaway-winner.html

I'm going to email you what you need to redeem it.

~Karla

Jackie Flaherty said...

Karla, thanks for the GOOD news! I'm very excited!

Erin said...

When I was in middle school, I was very interested in space, and eventually decided I wanted to work for NASA, doing some sort of ground control work. (Things changed slightly in high school, but that's how it goes). As I was learning more and more about the space program, it occurred to me to try writing to a woman who was the leader for one of the probes that went to mars. I was amazed when I received a very encouraging personal letter, a large amount of information, and an invitation to contact her if I was in the area. A couple years later, I was able to visit her and take a tour of the Jet Propulsion Lab. I also wrote to another woman who worked on ground control for the shuttle missions, and received a similar response.

Looking back, it is a wonderful thing that these women encouraged me to follow after my dreams. Even though my goals changed, their encouragement gave me what I needed to push forward and eventually reach my goals.

Jackie Flaherty said...

Tuxgirl,
Thank you for sharing such a personal and uplifting story. Reaching out to others who are living your dream is a wonderful thing to do. I love it!