Guest Author Dr. Lewena Bayer of Civility Experts Inc.

The Scribbler is pleased to do a series of guest appearances in conjunction with Creative Edge Publicity of Saskatchewan, Canada. (See below for more of Creative Edge)

The first guest in our monthly lineup is Dr. Lew Bayer of Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a 16-time published author, professional trainer and an award winning internationally acclaimed civility expert. Her remarkable CV contains many impressive titles; CEO, President, Executive Director, Co-chair, Presenter, Personal Coach, etc.




Dr. Lew Bayer believes,

  “Civility is its own reward”

She suggests,

“In choosing civility, people find their best self, and in doing so, they experience the grace, courage, generosity, humanity, and humility that civility engenders.”

The Scribbler is honoured to have her participate in a 4Q Interview.

For more than 20 years Lewena Bayer has been internationally recognized as the leading expert on civility at work. With a focus on social intelligence and culturally-competent communication, the team at Civility Experts – which includes 501 affiliates in 48 countries has supported 100’s of organizations in building better workplaces. In addition to her role as CEO of international civility training group Civility Experts Inc. www.CivilityExperts.com which includes The Civility Speakers Bureau and Propriety Publishing. Lew is Chair of the International Civility Trainers’ Consortium, President of The Center for Organizational Cultural Competence www.culturalcompetence.ca, and Founder of the In Good Company Etiquette Academy Franchise Group www.ingoodcompanyetiquette.com. Most recently, Lew was selected as an International Advocate for Aegis Trust, a UK based organization focused on peace education and the prevention of genocide. She is also an Education Chair for www.globalgoodwillambassadors.org/. Recently, Dr. Bayer has been assigned the privilege of being named Ambassador of Global Knowledge Exchange http://www.gkefoundation.org/bios-chang.htm and a Master Educator in Global Teachers Academy.

Including 2-time, international bestseller, The 30% Solution, and the pending December release of Golden Rule Peace and Civility Lew is a 17-time published author. Lew donates her time as Director of the National Civility Center, www.civilitycenter.org and co-founder of the Golden Rule Civility Global Initiative, she is also a proud mentor for The Etiquette House, a member of the Advisory Board for A Civil Tongue, was a national magazine columnist for 10 years, and has contributed expert commentary to many online, print, and television publications. Lew is one of only 14 Master Civility Trainers in the world, a distance faculty member at Georgetown University Center for Cultural Competence, a long-term facilitator at the Canadian Management Center in Toronto Canada, Instructor – Social Justice at MITT, a Master trainer for the Canadian School of Service, a certified High Style Impression Management Professional and a Certified Culture Coach® who also holds credentials in Intercultural Communications, Essential Skills, and Occupational Language Assessment. Most recently Lew has completed the Champions of Humanity Master Peace Educator Certificate Program at the Kigali Peace School in Rwanda.

Lew has been recognized at World Civility Day three consecutive years for her contributions in the field of civility with a Community Civility Counts Award, and she was recently nominated for Women of Distinction, Woman of Influence, and the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the year. She was previously awarded Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur in International Business and she was the first Canadian to receive the prestigious AICI International Civility Star Award. In 2018 Lew was acknowledged for her work as co-founder of Golden Rule Civility Global Initiative www.goldenrulecivility.com and presented with the International Person of the Year Award by iChange Nations. In May 2018 she was presented with a US Congressional Educator Award. She has been recommended for a position in the Canadian Senate and also under consideration as Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. In April 2019, the Global Peace Federation awarded Lew the International Peace Ambassador Award. In June 30, 2019, Dr. Bayer was nominated for a 36th Annual Manitoba Business Awards in the Outstanding Large Business Award category.

In addition to regularly consulting on corporate civility, social impact and impression management, building relationships with media and creating civil communication, Lew was a national columnist for over 10 years, and is Lew is a sought-after expert who frequently writes, interviews and speaks with media all around the world. 

Civility Experts Inc. manages The Civility Speakers Bureau www.civilityspeakers.com offers online certification, www.civilityexpertsonline.com and offers a large array of civility training tools and materials via www.civilitystore.com. It is a combination of the collective experience of the world-wide affiliate team, the leading-edge training solutions and the team's ability to customize to their client's need that leads to the sometimes immeasurable bene­fits that choosing civility brings. These outputs include increased social capital, trust, social intelligence and culturally competent communication - and together these impacts result in efficiency, competency, retention and bottom line results.



4Q: Before we talk about your book(s), please tell us your definition of civility and why it is important in today’s world.



LB: Many people think that civility is just manners or about being nice. It is soooo much more than that. At Civility Experts we have worked with our 500+ affiliates in 48 countries to define civility in a way that captures how significant and impactful it is, and also to show how civility is a measurable competency.

CIVILITY IS:

*A conscious awareness of the impact of one’s thoughts, actions, words and intentions on others; combined with,

*A continuous acknowledgement of one’s responsibility to ease the experience of others (e.g., through restraint, kindness, non-judgment, respect, and courtesy); and,

*A consistent effort to adopt and exhibit civil behaviour as a non-negotiable point of one’s character. 




4Q: Your latest publication is titled Power of One - How Choosing Civility Can Change Your Life. Please tell us about the book and its contents.

LB: The book is about choosing civility and what that looks like in practice, we each have opportunity. We have a voice, we have the power to choose – our words, our thoughts, our actions. We each have the power to influence others and we each have the power of our gifts and talents. We need only acknowledge and use our power. 

In this book, the goal was to gather together aspects of civility which I understand to be powerful in the choosing of them. 

If you define civility as we do at Civility Experts Inc., you will understand how each of the nine aspects below are necessarily become part of who you are and how you live and interact with others.

One Underpinning Value - When we choose civility as a core personal value, and when we define it in a way that is measurable, we necessarily incorporate several other related values. Civility serves as a foundational value that directs our attitude, decision-making and behaviour such that describing and delineating many other values is not necessary.

One Story - The sharing of and listening to our stories is “social communion™”. By engaging in this act of fellowship, we come to understand how at an energetic and spiritual level we’re all connected.

One Decision - Every decision we make impacts someone or something in some way. We each have the power, every day, to be a positive or a negative influence on the world around us.

One Mission - There is power in having a clear purpose, an undertaking, something you am aiming for, and committed to achieving.

One Gift - Every life is valuable and created with a specific purpose and gift. Each of us has the power to be a positive contributor to the world through our own gifts, and each of us has an obligation to support others in the development of their gifts.

One Moment of Courage - Choosing civility requires courage. We each have the power to draw on our inner strength and exhibit courage e.g., making hard choices, standing up for what is right- just because it is right, and doing whatever we can to ease the experience of others.

One Small Kindness - One word, one minute of attention, one act of generosity, one second chance…the opportunities for kindness are endless and even the smallest kindness has the power to change the course of another person’s day, and even his/her life.



4Q: Previous to the book mentioned above, you’ve also published The 30% Solution. That sounds intriguing. Care to tell us about it as well?



LB: The 30% Solution is based on research showing that companies that embed civility into their policies and practices experience measurable (average 30%) increases in retention, engagement, and profitability. The book is a toolkit for organizations that want to take on a civility initiative and change their workplace culture.




4Q: Please tell us about your role as CEO of the multinational civility training group Civility Experts Group.


LB: As CEO I have the privilege of both learning from and mentoring/sharing civility best practices with our affiliates and clients around the world. I travel and teach about 250 days a year and I can tell you – there is a need for this work, and we are making a difference. 



4Q: How do your novels fit into your role as a civility expert? How do you benefit personally from the exercise of writing?


LB: To be a change-maker you have to be a continuous learning. You have to be open to new ideas, to learning, growing, sharing, collaborating- I think part of being civil is acknowledging that you are human and can never know everything you need to learn- we are all just doing the best we can to be good people and live a good life. Writing gives me an opportunity to reflect on what I’ve read and learned and to present it in a way that might be meaningful to others. 



4Q: What is next for Dr. Lew Bayer, the author?

LB: Well- more writing I hope. But the big project right now is called World Citizen- a global civility training initiative with my Taiwan affiliate and partners in China and around the world. As well, I hope to be an ongoing support to my team and clients.


4Q Anything else you’d like to share with us?



LB: Just that I do truly believe that civility is its own reward- I encourage every one to bring his/her best self to every opportunity, every conversation, every interaction and learn as I have that the gift is in the giving.


Thank you  

Thank you, Dr. Bayor for being our guest and your insightful interview.

For you readers wanting to discover more about Dr. Bayor’s writing and company, please follow these links.

Amazon.com 

Civilityexperts.com 

Creative Edge is a dynamic Publicity Company based in Saskatchewan. Founder and co-Owner Mickey Mikkelson made this statement:

Creative Edge specializes in elevating the public profile of authors and artists through such means as (but not limited to) book signings, presentations (libraries, schools, conferences, businesses, etc.), involvement in applicable events, media interviews (including podcasts and print media), and soliciting of reviews from influential reviewers and bloggers.