What They Say, When They Say Your Name
You’ve met them.
I know you have.
I just hope you don’t work with them!
(Or – heaven forbid! – lead and train them)
They say all the right things, just like they’ve been trained.
They’re efficient, and well versed in what’s what.
They know how stuff works.
And they do their job with skill.
And yet.
And yet.
And yet you leave a conversation with them feeling bemused and unsettled.
In fact, you feel completely hacked off!
Thoughts of mild strangulation flit across your heated brain.
Why is that?
(You know the answer, before I’ve even asked the question)
You know that you’ve just experienced a Low Impact Culture.
A culture where people confuse two behaviours:
- Doing Their Job. And…
- Doing The Job That’s Needed in The Moment.
Dare I say it.
There’s no sense of LOVE emanating from them.
You’re just another task to be ticked off their uber-efficient checklist.
(I’m sad to say that I experienced that in an expensive hotel only recently).
On the other hand…
I wrote last week of behaviour that was precisely the opposite.
Two women whose names will be on our lips as long as our memories still serve us.
Two women determined to create High Impact Service.
Service way-beyond-the-mark that deeply influenced (and blessed) our family
Service that brought joy during a very difficult year.
Service that surprised, delighted, soothed, healed and liberated.
These are what I call High Impact People.
- They don’t wait for direction.
They step up and lead.
- They don’t seek permission to solve problems
They create solutions to fulfil the mission (and seek forgiveness later)
- They don’t bemoan their load
They find ways to make heavy demands feel lighter.
- They don’t escalate problems upwards.
They take responsibility to fulfil… until surprise and delight is the only place left to go.
And their behaviour entices others to behave in the same way.
They create a High Impact Culture around them.
Their Culture doesn’t need lectures or presentations or edicts-from-above.
Their Culture reflects who The Boss is already becoming.
And, if The Boss isn’t becoming?
Well, High Impact People won’t hang around too long!
You can be sure of that.
So, what about you?
What about the Culture you’re helping to create?
What about the Culture you’re demonstrating with your leadership?
Years from now…
When your name is spoken of…
Will they speak with a memory of delightful surprise? Of soothing and healing?
With a sense of being astonished and liberated?
It’s a choice, you know.
The impact we make.
What our name stands for.
Love or Duty.
The thing is… we need to first make the choice!
