I am moved when clients – and people I’m just talking with – take a kernel of an idea I offer and make it their own:
- Making additional, unexpected edits to their resume or the executive summary they were working on that dramatically improves their messaging and impact
- Approaching employee performance discussions and team planning sessions with a joyful creatively that engagingly captures and focuses everyone’s attention
- Recognizing (and proactively addressing) the unintended implications of a new policy or practice before the you-know-what hits the you-know-where
All gratifying, indeed. But what’s even more so is when their kernels affect me:
- A book or TED Talk they’ll recommend that profoundly motivates and inspires me
- An insight they’ll share that dramatically shifts my own thinking about a personal matter I’m grappling with
- A question they’ll ask that informs me as to how I might coach them, and others, in more masterful ways
Look Both Ways – It’s a Two-Way Street
A natural tendency of the busy and stressed is to put our heads down and plow forward. In doing so, however, we often miss the serendipity of reciprocity – those unscripted moments where we can (and do) help others, and they can (and do) help us, far more than we might realize. Such giving and receiving can be wonderfully rewarding, even when they have only a one-and-done quality to them. But when you consider that every interaction includes a kernel for long term and ongoing value, as well, it becomes increasingly clear that we must allow ourselves to share, and reflect on what’s shared, far more than we often do.
Post Script
I hope this post has helped you learn something about yourself. If so, please make a point to share your insight with others as a way to "lock in" your learning.While you're at it, I'd also appreciate you telling them about LeadershipTraction and the resources available, here, on-line, at www.leadershiptraction.com including:
• my other blog posts
• my leadership tutorial downloads
• my newsletter archives
• the curated content on my LeadershipTraction Facebook page
• and, of course, my book, Leadership Haiku
Thanks.
- bz
P.P.S. If you have a question or comment about this post, just let me know. I'll do my best to get back to you, straightaway.