I had another thought related to my message from last week about WITHness I want to expand on this week.
I finished that message with these words: I've said this before and I'm sure I will say it again, but we are all contributing to the culture of the spaces around us, so we might as well be intentional about the kind of culture we want to create with our influence and leadership!
That intentionality is what I want to focus on today - simply put, I don't think most of us realize the impact our attitude and presence has on the spaces in which we participate.
For example, I have a small part time job that requires a decent amount of ongoing training. Most of us have some version of this in our lives, whether it's CEUs or periodic training courses we need to complete, so we just kind of know it comes with the role. However, in this particular case, a new product was added to what we offer which required a significant amount of additional, up-front training. I noticed there were some fellow employees who felt like it wasn't ideal, but since it was a requirement, they just made the best of it. I also noticed there were other employees who decided it wasn't fair and was too difficult, and they spent a lot of time complaining about it. And I can also say with certainty that each of those groups contributed to the atmosphere of our environment! Quite frankly, I MUCH preferred being with the ones who decided to just roll with it, and I tried to avoid being around the ones who were complaining.
Now it might be easy to draw the conclusion that I don't think you should complain. While that may be a simple and true conclusion(!), that would miss the bigger point I am hoping to make. Our words, our actions, our attitudes matter and they definitely make an impact on our environment. Great leaders and teammates recognize this, and so they work with intentionality to make their impact positive for the good of the whole. In other words, they are willing (at times) to sacrifice their own personal feelings and reactions, in order to purposefully choose words and attitudes that make the space better for everyone.
As you think about the various spaces and environments of your life, where are the ones that feel the easiest and how can you enhance the beauty of those spaces? Which ones feel the most frustrating or unfair? How could you make some intentional choices about your attitudes or words that could make a difference for the good of the whole? What personal sacrifices might be required of you to be a great leader and teammate in those spaces? How could you become more mindful of the impact your life has on all the spaces in which you live, and how could you be more of a positive contributor there?
Here's to being INTENTIONAL about creating WITHness this week!
Be Well,
Stephen
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