She sat in her boss’s office, discussing the day, frustrated about staffing levels and a litany of other things. “I know I shouldn’t have been so harsh with Kim when she came in so late. I was just so stressed! She’s a great employee. It just made me so mad!”
“I know I come in here boiling about one thing or another almost every day. How come you are always so calm about it? Even when I’m pushing at you to do something and I really shouldn’t be? How do you do that?”
He turned his chair to look at her a bit more directly. “I have a secret,” he said. “I’ve never told you this before, but maybe it will help you to understand. ”
“When I hear you coming into my office, I stop what I’m doing and turn to face you, right? Do you ever wonder why I often have a slight smile on my face when I do that, even when I know you are about to bring me something stressful, critical, or unhappy?
“Whenever I see you, the first thought that crosses my mind is this- “This is a person that is important to me. This is a person I value.” When that thought starts, it makes me smile and it makes me interact with you in a completely different way. Why? because that thought trumps anything else! Regardless of any stress, impatience, criticism, negativity. I see value in you and I want nothing but good for you.”
“You and I will grow together,” he said,”learning a little more about teamwork and family and valuing people every day.”
Does this make any sense, have any value, in a workplace focused on productivity, employee engagement, mission?
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” -Theodore Roosevelt.
Yes, I think it makes all the difference in the world.
Father, give me the grace and strength to copy the way your Son values people. Help me to treat not just one, but all of my crew as He would. Amen.