I've given up shaking hands, forever!

"I've given up shaking hands, forever!" announced my friend E.Dan. He said it to a small group of friends at a pre-wedding party yesterday. And he meant it. He no long shakes peoples hands.

Instead, E.Dan gives hugs. For the past five weeks, he has been retraining himself to not reach out his hand when meeting people. Instead, he shares his new philosophy and offers a hug. Men seem to have the most difficulty with this, he says, - like a fish out of water - however, once they "get it" ... they welcome it.

Recently, a man living in New York City read his blog and wrote to tell E.Dan that he would like to fly him to NYC and have him talk to a group of people about "giving up shaking hands, forever!"

E.Dan blogs about it in his Life is Heart blog. He even admits that at the pre-wedding party, a five-year-old walked up to him and introduced himself by reaching out his hand for a shake. Instinctively, E.Dan reached out his hand, they shook hands, then he stooped down to give the boy a hug. The boy followed him around the rest of the day.

Could this small gesture create a paradigm shift in the world of business and commerce as we know it?

Perhaps. Yesterday, I also received a long hug from a former executive of Shell Oil International, who was attending the LOHAS annual conference in Boulder. (LOHAS = lifestyles of health and sustainability). The tag line on her business card read: "Believe and Act in Love."