While I was in Northern Europe with 3 of my children last week, we got on a hop-on, hop-off bus, which is a great way to get acquainted with an unfamiliar city. When crossing the border from one country to another, however, we noticed something. People seemed to have a very different attitude, and they weren’t as warm and friendly in this other country.

Come to find out, we just happened to be dealing with people who were working a job that does not require a higher level of skills. They certainly did not have well developed people skills. I’ve learned over the years people like that tend to stay in a job like that, never moving up. Why? Because rude people, people with poor people skills, will always stay at the bottom.

We’ve all encountered rude bus drivers, rude people in food service, rude customer service reps, rude people in hotels. But what I’ve noticed as I have gone from being a broke, homeless cocktail waitress to being a multimillionaire with over 2 decades of business experience today, is that you get what you pay for.

It’s so funny because people who are in lower paid positions have a tendency to have bad attitudes. Many of them don’t smile, and they don’t really want to be doing that job. They often encounter rude customers. And guess why… Because they are rude to the customers!

Listen, 93% of all communication is nonverbal. So when a customer gets on your bus and your face looks like you just sucked on a lemon, they don’t feel welcome on your bus. They see your face — your nonverbal communication — and think, "Oh great, another rude bus driver."

The reality is, it’s not that difficult to move up into higher paying positions. Simply provide good service to everyone you encounter. Nobody likes bad service, and nobody likes rude people. Rude people provoke rudeness from other people.

Most of the rude service you encounter is from workers in lower-paying jobs. If you walk into a fast food restaurant, you’re likely to receive poor service from rude people, but if you were to walk into my favorite restaurant, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, you would be treated like royalty! If you take a ferry across a small body of water, you’ll meet people who have poor people skills. But on a luxury cruise ship, you encounter people who smile, remember your name and have excellent communication skills. You will be treated with honor and respect, as if you were a highly welcomed guest.

So look at your pay grade. If you want to move up, then don’t act like the other people who are in that same pay grade. Step up your game and work as if you were working in a luxury hotel or a 5-star restaurant. When you do that, it causes your customer to think differently about the brand you represent. I promise, if you start at the bottom at McDonalds and you work as if you were serving Ruth’s Chris customers, you will not stay at the bottom for long.

This also applies at home. How do you represent yourself in your home with your family? Do you take care of it as if it was a luxury home, or do you treat it like a run-down dump? How you treat it determines how you feel about it, and how you feel about it determines whether or not you get promoted out of it.

So as you go to work today, either at your job, in your business or in your home, choose to treat your environment and the people around you with absolute honor and respect. Provide the best service and the highest level of people skills to everyone you encounter, and you will be promoted over and over again in work and in life.

Take a moment right now to spread this message to your friends, family and co-workers. If you own a business or manage a team of people, you definitely want to print it out and hand it to your employees and team members today. You can also share it on Facebook and Twitter!

I’m so excited to announce The Spiritual Equipping Broadcast is returning to Wednesday nights starting on September 4th — this time on your TV and radio! Mark your calendar now! Also, you and I will be spending 2 exciting hours together this Sunday night on The Dani Johnson Show! I can’t wait to connect with you.

In great faith,

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