Care

Our entire society feels very tense, very broken right now.

So what can we do, as individual leaders and travelers on this earthly journey?

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” — Mother Teresa

It really is all about caring. But what does that mean, really?

• Yes, we’re all on the journey of life, but we’re each taking different paths. Rather than being annoying, that’s glorious!
• We all make mistakes. The goal isn’t to be perfect, but to do the best we can and learn as we go along.
• Each of us has a history, both things we talk about and other things we regret. It’s that tension which makes us human.

Does this mean we have to tolerate bad behavior and employees who never seem to learn? No. But there’s a huge range of options between tolerating and punishing.

Did you really help that person to learn from their mistake? Or did you just brush them off with “well, don’t let that happen again!” Was it clear to them what the impact and consequences were?

With that person who seems to rub people the wrong way, did you establish whether this is due to temporary stresses in their life, or needing ongoing feedback and coaching? Did you really care about their underlying story? Are you really helping them?

Are you as forgiving of others’ challenges as you are with your own?

The world is a challenging place, but we DO have the opportunity to make things better in our little sphere of influence.

The duty, actually.