Kindness always wins
You can never underestimate the power of kindness.
A couple weeks ago, I read the obituary of a childhood friend, Earle. The family was quite open and shared that Earle had a life long struggle with addiction, which sounded like it was the contributing factor in his death.
Sad.
Later that day, I got a text from my youngest brother Greg, who as a kid was always around the house and the four of us (his siblings) and our friends but felt invisible as none of our friends (and truth be told, none of us) paid much attention to him because of his age. I think Greg’s text says it all.
“Sorry about Earle, Steve. He was one of my favourite people when I was little. He always spoke to me and treated me like I mattered.”
Wow !
If you don’t already see the connection to work, I’ll make it for you—if you want a thriving culture, your people need to know they matter and need to know you care.
A few ways I remember Earle made people matter were:
He got to know people beyond the surface
He loved to laugh, was light hearted and was values driven
He looked people in the eyes
He talked frankly
He listened
He told the truth
He stood up for the underdog
There’s a lot more you can do to build a thriving culture, but I hope one of Earle’s ideas will help you take your leadership to the next level.
