Tag: workplace

Weathering the Storm !!

This past weekend we were caught off guard. Our winter in West Chester (just north of Cincinnati) has been unseasonably mild. There have been a few cold days sprinkled in through December and January with far more rain than frost or snow. People were getting comfortable with the higher temperatures, and it lulled us to sleep.

We received a notice of a winter storm warning, but we were skeptical. Many, many times our meteorologists make predictions of doom and destruction while a dusting of snow barely covers the tips of the grass. We had 3 to 4 inches fall between Friday and Saturday which is a nuisance, but it didn’t shut things down (as the local news outlets had hoped). Overnight we were supposed to get 1 to 2 more inches. Not really something to fret over.

View of our backyard !!

Waking up this morning, we were truly surprised. We didn’t get 1 to 2 inches we got 8 inches !! THAT shut things down to start the day. I was planning to head to church and my son was planning on leaving to return for his final semester of college. I did get out on the road, but it was very tentative. I grew up in a part of Ohio that was used to many inches of snow. So, I’m pretty comfortable driving in snowy and icy conditions. Many, however, aren’t. Whenever snow hits here, you’ll see several cars spin out, swerve off the road or get crinkled by running into something or someone.

The experience I had this weekend is typical of most situations we face personally and in our organizations. We hear warnings and we may, or may not, heed what’s predicted. The signs of a challenge are all around us, but we don’t think things will be “that” bad. We take the chance that we can get through whatever comes, and many times we can.

However, there are storms that do hit very hard. These usually are unpredictable and the circumstances and situations can seem insurmountable. Whenever storms do hit, you have some choices you can make.

Stay Inside

It’s an option most choose. There is safety in making this choice because you’re in the surroundings where you’re most comfortable. You also probably stocked up and have all of the supplies you need. There’s nothing wrong with staying warm and cozy.

Get Overwhelmed

I hate to be negative, but storms can bury you. That’s a reality. If a storm presents itself to be so large as to overwhelm you, make sure you have a lifeline to get help. Trying to tackle life on your own is reckless. There’s no value in being a martyr who has every burden stack on them time after time. I realize that people are more isolated than ever these days. Change that and reach out to connect with folks who will be there when the storms hit.

Venture Out

You can grab a shovel and take on the conditions that attempt to keep you stymied. It’s not easy to dig out, and it will wear you out. It’s hard to face challenging conditions. At times though, we need to go through the storm in order to get to the other side which will be even brighter than anything the storms throws at us.

Storms happen. We don’t look forward to them, but that doesn’t stop them from coming. As an HR professional, remember this because you are surrounded by people that are either in the midst of storms, or one is on the horizon. You have the chance to help them with their choice when it hits. You can help them hunker down and stay safe. You can offer empathy and support to help them not to get overwhelmed. You can also encourage them and stand with them as they venture out to face the storm swirling around them.

I don’t think there’s an option to avoid and let people just slog through storms. We need to respect how much a person is willing to let us assist them, but just leaving them alone isn’t acceptable in my opinion. You may be the ONE person who makes a difference because you chose to care.

I think HR folks should venture out !! This week take a look at those you work with and assess the weather. You need to be ready because a storm is sure to be on its way . . .

Guard !! Turn !! Parry !!

When I was young, I loved getting up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons !! They were fantastic. I would get a bowl of cereal and sit in front of the glowing screen for hours. I especially enjoyed Looney Toons with the hilarious characters of ranging from Bugs Bunny to Daffy Duck. They were five to seven minutes of incredible action, story line and humor. Most of the humor, to be honest, was above my head. That didn’t matter though because they were so different than the other shows that were on.

One of my favorite cartoons was Robin Hood Daffy which featured Daffy Duck as Robin Hood and Porky Pig as Friar Tuck. Daffy is exasperated to prove to Porky that he is, in fact, Robin Hood. Porky is suspicious and thinks that Daffy is a bumbling buffoon who is far from the hero who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Most of the cartoon proves that Porky is right.

In one scene Daffy is crossing a log over a stream with a long stick which he uses for several moves, but ends up hitting himself in the face and bending his bill back towards his face. He tries the moves over and over with the same result. He even talks his way through it with confidence exclaiming, “Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!,” and then “Sproing!” his bill snaps back. During this endless, futile exercise, Porky steps up with a small stick and thwarts Daffy by inserting it into his moves during his spin. It’s hilarious !!

The reason I bring this up is that I find that most HR people spend so much time going through much of the same futile regimen that Daffy Duck does with the same result. Instead of being intentional and direct with people we dodge, spin, guard, parry and thrust. The only thing missing is screaming the “Ho Ha !!” distraction. Doesn’t that just tire you out? The constant maneuvering to skirt along the edges of employee interactions just in case you’re called into action. Inevitably, an employee comes up with their small stick and throws you into the stream.

HR should never be the buffoon that has to try to prove who they are either. It’s another giant waste of energy and time. We are looking for constant affirmation and acknowledgement by those that may, or may not, matter within the organization. This too is tiring and is discouraging for those who practice Human Resources.

Look, it’s a New Year. Let’s not be the Looney Toon character anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s immeasurable room for humor, color and animation !! Those things bring life to ourselves, others and organizations as a whole. I would just encourage you to no longer go through wasted motions that seem like thrashing around just to be seen as busy. Be intentional. Be among your employees. Be spectacular and give them the HR professional they deserve !! When you do that, you’ll be working alongside the great people you have and quit having to pull yourself out of the stream.

Choose

A new workweek is upon us. I’m sure it’s going to be filled with both challenges and opportunities. If you’re like most people, you probably feel that the challenges far outweigh the opportunities. That may not be the case, but it gives you the illusion that you’re going to be better at your job because you feel that solving problems is why you exist.

I think taking this position is difficult personally. If our days our chock full of a majority of challenges, then how can we see any glimmer of hope? I don’t mean to make light of the conditions of other’s lives. That would be short sighted and presumptuous.

I want to throw something out there that may seem naive, but I find it to be true. In the midst of all that is swirling around us, we have a choice on how to start our day. Every. Day. We can either make the conscious decision to be positive or not. I used to think that the choice was positive or negative, but that is too much of a generalization.

Choosing to be positive frames everything even in the middle of legitimate challenges. It’s not naive, but it is difficult. Most forces in our personal lives and our lives at work want us to focus on what’s wrong as the point where things start. That gives us a jumping off point to move away from because the less something is broken, the more we have a sense of accomplishment.

In HR we are constantly surrounded by people. People who are going through life just like we are. It’s easy to hear how people are facing their days and become sarcastic and embittered. You get tired of the unending waves of struggle. There doesn’t seem to be a viable way out. So, you get swallowed along with it.

Choosing to be positive changes the playing field because you don’t enter the encounters you have with others as something you’re obligated to solve. You may get a chance to be part of a solution, but it doesn’t have to be your only purpose. When you approach others expecting things to be positive regardless of what you come across, you put yourself in a position to be available. That, honestly, is more than most people expect when it comes to daily interactions.

I know this is a big ask, but I want to put an option out there for others. There needs to be something for you to latch on to because what you do matters. When you spend time with people you may be the one spark that turns the tide for them.

This week choose.

 

Replacement Parts

My Mom is an amazing human in almost every way !! This November she will celebrate her 80th birthday and I’m geeked to see that come along with family and friends. If you met my Mom, you wouldn’t think that she’s roamed this planet for eight decades. She is active, vibrant and a true servant leader in her community.

Just this past week, she had a hip replaced. This wasn’t due to an injury. She just needed some new parts. Her doctor has asked her for months if she was in any pain. My Mom always replied that she was “fine.” Evidently she had arthritis building up and her doctor was concerned that if she fell at some time, her hip would break and it could seriously hurt her. Thankfully, she had the procedure in time.

Seeing her go through this made me think of HR of course. How many systems, programs, policies and procedures have you created that are out dated, stale and stagnate? Do you even know? Chances are the vast majority of all of your human resources efforts need a check up. I’m sure that you are oblivious to how your systems are performing. I know I am. That may be a hard thing to admit, but it’s true. Most HR processes only get dusted off when there’s some “crisis” or policy violation. I know there are times when I ask to buy some time so I can pull up a Word document from some long forgotten file to make sure that I respond correctly.

This is not an effective way to practice HR. There are so many instances when we are reactive because we just don’t have a good reason to utilize our systems on a regular basis. I think it’s time we look at some replacement parts for what we do and how we practice.

I’m not sure what specifically needs to be replaced in your systems, but I’m sure there are ways to make things current and relevant. I’d suggest that you do some of the following steps to see what happens.

Does anyone know it exists? – We all have policies and procedures that were developed years and years ago. If you pull up one of these to review it and it says “As of . . .” and the date is over two years old, you need to see if people even know it exists. Chances are they don’t, and you didn’t either.

Is it relevant? – Our companies go through change on a daily basis (at least). I remember going through an old handbook I had written about the use of pagers. Pagers !! (If you don’t remember these technological miracles, look them up on Wikipedia). At the time, we HAD to have a policy because people spent too much time on them. Sound familiar? It was stupid then and senseless now. These gems are riddled in your documents. Trust me. Find them and get rid of them.

Can you be consistent? – This is the one piece of advice that I hope you use for anything you create in HR. It has to be able to be applied and implemented consistently. If it can’t be, then  keep working on it until it is. My rule of thumb is that any program, system, policy or procedure has to affect the majority of employees and not the exceptions. That runs contrary to how most HR products are created. You can’t be consistent when you’re systems are geared towards exceptions.

Try them out !! – The last piece of advice is based on my Mom’s surgery again. The hip she received is brand new and shiny. However, unless she can walk easily and have mobility and range of motion, it’s just shiny. So, instead of having constant launch parties for your HR efforts, try things out in focus groups or departments. Test them to see how they perform. If they need tweaked, then do that before you release it to the entire organization.

My Mom was up and walking within hours of her surgery. It was amazing to see. She’s walking better than she had been for months. She still had little pain still and I’m thankful for that. She’s going to continue to be amazing. She just needed a tune up. This week, start the tune up you need in HR as well !!

Glory Days !!

This past weekend I traveled back to my hometown for a sobering event. The father of a dear friend of mine from high school passed away. I know this isn’t unique to any of us because we will all face the loss of those who are close to us at some time or another. I relished the opportunity to go back to my hometown because it’s like going inside a Norman Rockwell painting. Seriously.

I grew up in Ada, Ohio which has 5,600ish residents. It’s the type of place where everyone knows everyone and has for generations. I went to a school where every grade, Kindergarten through 12th Grade, was in one building (and still is). Walking into the Ada Baptist Church was like walking back in time. I immediately saw dear friends that I unfortunately hadn’t seen for anywhere from between 10 to 30 plus years. However, it was like we never missed a beat.

My friends from my hometown !! (Left to Right) Me, Dave West, Jeff Gossell, Bill Kent, Mark Browne and Joe Simmons

After a beautiful service and celebration of my friend’s father, we all gathered in the Fellowhip Hall for a meal and a chance to catch up. I immediately hooked up with my High School classmates and we asked about what has happened since we last saw each other. Then, we shared memories and laughed. We laughed so hard and so long, my ribs ached and my head hurt. It was magnificent !!

The time flew by and we didn’t want it to end. We all exchanged our contact information and agreed to get together again soon because we all agreed that we had waited far too long. It was bittersweet to leave the church and head back into my regular life. I did get to hang out with my brother and parents for a few more precious hours before I headed home.

As my wife and I headed back towards our home two hours away, I reflected on the day. I was thankful that she was so incredibly supportive and allowed me to reconnect with my mates. It made me also realize something that I had overlooked way too often.

The people in our lives on purpose. (Even if it’s only for a small slice of time.)

We walk through each day caught up in endless distractions all begging for our attention. Most of those, by the way, we seek out even though we complain about them. There are tons of people who move in and out of our days. Do you take the time to notice them? Or, do you take them for granted because they serve some functional role that is yet another cog in  your day?

You’re missing out on so much because it isn’t a mistake that these folks are in your life. That includes your family, your friends, your co-workers and the folks you encounter when you go to various places. As HR professionals, we need to wake people up so that they stop running to keep up with everything to intentionally connect with the humans all around them.

This is an opportunity for us to lead in our organizations. It shouldn’t take a significant life event or business calamity to bring people together.

I know that I was fortunate to grow up in a quaint town with an amazing family. To have friends that I still can hang out with is also a blessing. I don’t think this has to be an exception. I think it can be your norm.

This week pause, stop and breathe. Then, reflect on someone in your life that you may have drifted from that you’d like to see how their life is going. I know they’d appreciate it, and so would you.

Understand that others are in your life on purpose !!

Treat people this way and see how your life begins to enrich and grow. I hope you’ll get a chance to share great memories and new experiences as well !!

Love Your Job !!

Over the past several years, I’ve been fortunate to travel to HR conferences all over the U.S. I’ve had to learn how to be a “good” traveler through much anxiety and frustration. I know that is an unfounded fear, but I’m just being candid.

This past week I was fortunate to travel to New Orleans to be the opening keynote speaker for the Louisiana SHRM State Conference. It was an amazing event and checked off another item from my personal bucket list. But I digress . . .

To catch my flight, I awoke at 3:00am to drive down to the airport and make sure I was there two hours before my flight. Now, I know there are people who are regularly up and about and working at this hour, but very few. Driving the major highways was wonderful because I must have only passed 20 cars or so. I cruised down to the long-term parking lot where I normally park each trip and was given my allotted row to settle in. As I groggily stumbled out of my car to get my luggage, the shuttle pulled up to take me up to the airport as it always does. However, this time was much different !!

“Well, GOOD MORNING !! Are you excited to catch your flight today?”

This was NOT how I expected to be greeted at 3:45am. Not at all.

“Jump up on board. I have a few other folks to gather and then we’ll be on our way.”

His over the top cheeriness was an incredible surprise. He was genuine and  pleasant. Two others joined the shuttle and he welcomed them in the same joyful manner. As we headed out of the lot and up to the terminal, he continued.

“So, which airline is everyone on? We’ll be up there in just a few minutes.” We responded and he kept going.

“I just love my job !! I get to meet new people every day and they’re all from different backgrounds and headed to different places. I especially love kids who fly. They’re so excited about getting on a plane, and when they return they’re even more excited about where they’ve been. I love hearing their stories. You guys are my last trip up and back tonight and then it’s off to home and bed. It’s been a great day !!”

I sat in the shuttle with a gigantic smile on my face. Any stress or travel anxiety had disappeared and I was ready to go. His approach to his work is still sticking to me. He doesn’t have the more glamorous, visible or high level job. He is in a role where people more often than not don’t want to interact with the others sitting next to them. He didn’t ask if he could share his joy, he just did it. I feel that he does this with everyone who has the fortune to ride his shuttle.

Is this how you view your job?

I doubt it. To be honest, even though I consider myself a positive person, I don’t have this natural level of joy all the time. However, it was so infectious that I’ve decided that this is my goal going forward. Think of how HR would be within companies if this was our approach every day. How would you feel about yourself? How would you treat and view others?

I think it would be magnificent !!

This week own this approach. Love your work. Love your job and take steps to intentionally engage others. It changes your day for the better !!

Rest for Work !!

Have you ever been exhausted? Or, is a better question, when aren’t you exhausted? When you meet most people the two answers that are given most when you ask how someone’s day is going is either “busy” or “tired.” Neither option sounds that appealing. Honestly, if those are your only two options for how life is going, it seems rather limiting as well.

When we talk about rest it’s usually in response to whatever pace we run in our daily activities. We yearn for an escape most likely so we can collapse. Whenever you collapse, you’re overdue for anything you can truly consider as getting rested. It’s as if your body takes over and finally shuts you down just to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.

A trend that still gets attention when it comes to wellness and HR circles is the myth of work/life balance. The premise is that we need to “get away” from work in order to embrace and enjoy life. Again, it’s a means of escape from one facet of our lives. There’s no balance per se. It’s an attempt to make everything feel stable so that work doesn’t swallow us. The intention is good, but the reality is not fully attainable.

It’s odd to me that in order to rest, we’re succumbing to a feeling (or a reality) of not being able to carry on. That seems backwards to me. Now, please note that this is how I’ve approached rest for most of my life. I never feel fully rested because it’s as if I’ve run some sort of endless marathon that I’m going to have to rejoin in a matter of hours.

This past week, I heard a different approach that caught my attention that I’d like for you to consider. What if you rested FOR work ??

If you looked at resting yourself to get prepared for instead of escaping from work, how would that change your day? Seriously. If you were rejuvenated and geeked to jump into what was ahead of you versus falling onto your bed or sofa, think of what you could accomplish !! It would transform you and how you approached your work and those you would encounter.

I am planning on changing how I look at, and obtain, rest for myself. I want to be proactive in all that I do. Getting rest for work will take discipline. Most great things that prepare you for life take discipline and are well worth it. Making time for rest is much more appealing because you know that it’s a more regular part of your day. You wouldn’t settle for what you could get. You’d enjoy the rest that you plan to take.

There’s another reason I’m turning this around in my life. I work with humans every moment of every day. Being rested and ready to meet folks on purpose is a much healthier perspective to have. I believe that HR should be proactive as much as possible. Turning the corner on this facet of life would allow me to be at my best regardless of who I encounter.

What about you? Aren’t you tired of being tired? This week change your pattern and start resting for work !! You’ll be glad you did.

 

Gratitude

When I was a junior in high school, I took Chemistry. The class was a mix of juniors and seniors and was sure to be challenging. On the first day, a very young man walked into the room with a white shirt and a tie as we were chatting away and not paying attention. He turned to the chalkboard and wrote his name – Mr. Lusk.

He didn’t appear old enough to be a “Mr.” We soon found out that this was his first teaching opportunity after graduating from college. So, he was sitting in a room of students who were only four to five years younger than he was. Mr. Lusk was soft spoken and somewhat cautious in his approach. It had to be daunting to walk into a room where most of the students had been together since kindergarten !!

His first few weeks with us didn’t go well. You see our class had a mix of nerds (me included) who were geeked to learn Chemistry, and jocks who felt they had to get this class under their belt for college. They were there reluctantly and made that known every day. Mr. Lusk was strong even though he seemed meek. He had a down to earth teaching style and he made the different facets of the subject jump off the pages. A group of us (on the nerd side) decided to take him under our wings, and fight off those who didn’t want to be there.

A bond developed with four of us and we called ourselves “The Conclave.” We began to stay after class and also spent our study halls down in the chem room. We began to excel as he kept investing in us, and we, in turn, kept supporting him when others tried to dispel him as a teacher. Mr. Lusk survived and even started a second year of chemistry and a physics class that the Conclave willingly took. That was in 1980.

Mr. Lusk is still a fixture in Ada High School. He has been the same great teacher who invested in me almost forty years ago. His investment in me and hundreds of students since has left an amazing impact on every life. I have kept in touch with him and I tell him often how grateful I am that he got through those first few months when everyone tried to make it so hard for him. I’ve watched him become a father of very successful kids himself, and have shared my life with him as well.

His willingness to invest in others deserves more than a “Thank You.” Giving thanks is wonderful and polite, but he deserves gratitude. His example set the stage for me, and I want it to be an example to set for you as well.

If you’re in HR, you have the chance to be the person who invests in others. It’s a choice. You can either be like Mr. Lusk, or you can pass over others to get to the work at hand. I’d rather be the person who invests because you never know that the time you are intentional may have an impact and a legacy you never saw coming. People are worth it and deserve your focus, your time and your encouragement.

Who are you investing in? Are you being intentional to make sure others are acknowledged and lifted up? Why not?

This week I want to encourage you to do three things. The first is to switch your focus to one where you will invest in others. Secondly, go to those who have invested in you and thank them. Showing gratitude to them will sow the seeds in you to show gratitude to others on a consistent basis. Third, make sure you check out the new Impact Makers podcast from Jennifer McClure and subscribe to it !! She is featuring those who’s she’s seen make an impact on her and others. It’s a great example of what gratitude can do.

Mr. Lusk probably didn’t have the goal of making such a substantial difference in the lives of his students. He has, and I for one, am grateful !!

Something to Believe In !!

Do you remember the movie Bull Durham ?? It’s one of my all-time favorites. There’s a scene where Susan Sarandon meets with Tim Robbins (the talented pitching rookie) and Kevin Costner (the long-term minor league catcher), and she’s deciding who’ll she’ll be dating that season. Costner gets fed up being treated like he has to prove himself and stands to walk out. Sarandon challenges him and asks him what he believes in, and he gives one of the best answers ever captured in the movies. She responded almost breathlessly, “Oh my !!”

Costner’s character was ready to act on what he believed, and he held to it. I know it’s just a movie, but I appreciate the example. Belief in something greater than yourself is needed because it gives you direction and clarity. In today’s never ending stream of chaos, it seems that being someone who has beliefs isn’t popular.

Just using the word “belief” raises the defenses of others. This seems odd to me because having beliefs doesn’t mean that you are automatically contrary to others. I admire people who will be definitive and state what they believe in and stand by it. It doesn’t upset me or offend me that others have different beliefs than I do. In fact, I wouldn’t expect it to be otherwise because people are unique. Even if you picked one particular belief that two people “shared”, they would interpret it differently.

It also seems to me that people don’t want to talk and dialogue about having varying points of view. Instead, people want to scream their beliefs with the expectation that you support what they believe . . . or else. This saddens me. I value that people look at the world from different viewpoints and perspectives. I learn from others even if I don’t hold to what they believe. I don’t think that we should want everyone to be the same. All I’d like to see is that people respect differences. I think that if this occurred, then we’d have a chance to reach consensus on many things that would hopefully move us forward.

The reason I wanted to tackle this potentially volatile topic, is that I think it is a facet of what we do in HR. We work with people who come from drastically different backgrounds. Even when we think there may be similarities in people, they are far outweighed by the uniqueness that everyone brings to the workplace every day. Each of our employees has beliefs. They may, or may not, express them. But, you need to know they exist. It drives how they behave and how they perform.

We tend to shy away from asking about what our team members believe. I understand that because we’re not sure what we’ll hear. I think what’s key is not what you hear, but how you respond. I have found that when I take the time to listen to my team members I hear what they believe. Those thoughts and perspectives give me a better understanding of them as a human, and that’s the key.

I can’t lose sight that we’re in the business of humans. Ever.

So, this week, I want you to take the chance to understand that having beliefs is innately human. Then, I want to also challenge you to listen to what other’s believe in and not judge. You may not agree with them. Most likely you won’t. But, understanding humans is needed now more than ever.

Like I said in the beginning, I have beliefs. I believe that people want to do good more often than not. I believe in having faith and showing grace. I believe in encouragement and lifting others up consistently. I believe in creativity, laughter, enjoying tie-dye and all types of music. I’m defined by my beliefs . . . and you are defined by yours.

Just Flourish !!

Unless you’re a self-avowed hermit, you’re surrounded by people. It’s inevitable that there are humans around you the majority of your day. Since that is the environment you find yourself in, you have a choice to embrace it or avoid it. This isn’t due to where you fall on the extroversion/introversion scale. You will choose how much human interaction works for you – and you should. We all have a limit. If we cross that, we tend to get frustrated, flustered and annoyed.

Being with people is more than just swimming among others as you pass through the hallways to their office/cubicle to have work related conversations. That type of interaction is necessary in order for good work to be accomplished. I would almost categorize those instances as “forced.” I don’t mean that you are reluctant to have conversations. It’s more like you have work conversations in order to get the next facet of your work at hand to move forward. They can be friendly, cantankerous or obligatory. They happen whether you “wanted” to have them or not.

The difficulty I see that happens all around me is that these pass by conversations make up the vast majority of communication today. It’s not only at work either. When people are using social media, you get quick snippets of partial thoughts. Or, you may get a picture in time of a great event or accomplishment. People taking time at home to truly interact without distraction is becoming an extinct approach. Again, I’m not making a right/wrong judgement here. It’s our reality and we need to acknowledge it. However, it doesn’t have to define us !!

Taking time to develop relationships has become a lost art. Unfortunately, the word “relationship” has been tarnished because of the unacceptable actions of some. That doesn’t have to be the case. Investing your time with others is incredibly valuable, and also necessary !!

We are never fulfilled when we only have pass-by conversations. We feel that something is missing because we can’t keep current with the pace. We don’t push through it enough because we’re concerned that the other person won’t reciprocate. I haven’t found that to be the case. In fact, I think people flourish when you give them your intentional time and attention.

I’d like to propose a different approach for you personally and especially if you’re in HR. Choose to have relationships that flourish !!

I think there are different gradients in this and you need to read the other person to see when they feel that things are full. Respect that. I mean it. Flourishing relationships have balance, mutual levels of input and especially authenticity. You can’t “fake it to  you make it” and have a meaningful friendship.

I’ve mentioned this in the past, but I use my commute differently than most. I’m in the car about an hour each way to and from work. Every night I call people and have long conversations. We talk about work, HR, life, etc. There are inevitable times of laughter as well as times of deep philosophy. We may argue various styles of music and ask for each other’s support in the situations we are each facing in life.

The point is this. I want to pour into their lives so that they will pour into the lives of others !! I know that every moment I can invest in the lives of others that they will invest in others as well. When this happens, then lives improve. When lives improve, relationships improve. And, when relationships improve that grows into other relationships to improve the workplace. This isn’t Utopian. It works.

So, this week in the midst of the pass-by snippets of conversation that will still fly around you, invest in someone. Start with a close friend. Make that relationship flourish and then build from there. You’ll be glad you did !!