Before I moved from Europe to New York City about six years ago, I left my old computer with my mom and showed her how to send e-mails. I took me an entire afternoon to walk her through the process from starting the computer to hitting the ‘send’ button, and make her feel comfortable with it.

Once I arrived in New York I got a text message from my mom telling me that the computer and e-mail does not work. So I called my friend in my home town to stop by and go over it again with my mom. He didn’t talk to me for weeks, so I guess he must have had the same frustrating experience as I did.

However challenging this process must have been for mom at the beginning, she is sending me an e-mail every day since then, and when I told this story to my girlfriend she asked, if I would be replying to her e-mails as well. I hesitated and told her that I didn’t. ‘You are so stupid, I cannot believe how stupid you are! You have this incredible huge power to make your mom so happy by only replying with a couple of words from time to time, and don’t do it’ my girlfriend lectured me, and she is right.

We all have this super power to influence the lives of the people around us in our personal and professional life, and it takes us so little. We can make the people around us happy, encourage and motivate them, and it’s so simple for us. Using this super power at work, can help you empower your coworkers to go beyond, encourage them to believe in themselves to reach their potential, and strengthen your relationship with them. A simple smile and thank you for a job well done can make another person’s day.

Everyone can be a real hero!