Business with attitude

I see her regularly.
Each time I do, I’m rooted to the spot.

She’s one of Wendy’s heroes. Or is that ‘heroines’?

Imagine a cheeky, chirpy, laughing, football-loving teenager.
Now see that teenager crippled – almost overnight – by arthritis.

When she passes me, painfully hobbling, every muscle in my body tenses, ready to catch her if she trips.
Just as Wendy tenses when watching her slowly raising her body from her chair as she fulfils projects at work.
But to leap to her aid would be insulting to her fiercely independent spirit.

What is a constant source of surprise is the humour that is ever there, each time I speak to her.
A chuckle at Life.
Leaving a conversation with her, I’m aware that I’m smiling.

Strange.
Wonderful.

She reminds me of my Mum. Crippled in the same way.
Yet greeting each sunrise with a sense of wonder. Touching each flower with a sigh of delight.
Encouraging me, and laughing with me when she could see the weight of business, finances, children, ministry and grandchildren on my shoulders.
Then closing each day with a prayer of gratitude for every breath, every relationship, every moment.

An Attitude of Gratitude.

I’m fortunate to meet a variety of business leaders in my work.
Most are a joy to be with.

Some are puffed up with their own accomplishments, desperate for the world to acknowledge them.
Just like when they were 10 years old,  calling out: “Look at me Daddy! Look what I’ve done!”
Except now it’s “Look at my accomplishments, my achievements, my acquisitions, my accumulations.”
With an underlying theme of “I did all this.”

There’s a sense of entitlement there. “I deserve this, because I’m brilliant.”
It pervades the business from top to bottom.
It is picked up, and subconsciously mimicked throughout the team.

Yet there’s hardly an acknowledgement that they’re sitting in a society already wallowing in luxury as a norm.
Or that everything could be taken away in a fragile second.
In the skip of a heartbeat. The bursting of a tiny blood vessel. The flickering of a tired eyelid behind the wheel of a car. The result of a test.

When a business understands the privilege that is theirs in the trust that the public places in their hands…
When that business recognises that each talented, creative team member could walk elsewhere at anytime…
When that business shows that it is grateful for their genius, their energy, their caring…

Then a sense of gratitude weaves its way through the whole culture.

Everybody who touches the organisation ‘smells’ it.
They’re not sure why. But they smell it anyway.

Gratitude.
It’s a beautiful, ennobling, uplifting quality of character.
It enriches those lucky enough to be in its presence.

Try it.
It Gives Your Business Real Attitude.