Quote-A-Day: Day 319

You never know who is going to be your leader, so always lead with people in mind. #QuoteADay #Day319 #edchat #edu #LeadForPeople

A funny thing happened to me yesterday.  I was facilitating a workshop, and when I looked over the attendance list, I saw a name I recognized. 

But first, the backstory. . .

My wife, daughters, and I bought a home a year ago yesterday, and when we set up our cable and Internet package, we were also given a phone number (I know, I know, boring story so far). 

It turns out that the phone number we received belonged to someone who also used to live in our town, and who must have just moved fairly recently. 

How did we know? 

Because we were constantly getting all types of calls for that family, which clearly isn’t us. J

The calls continue a year later, and it speaks to the importance of always updating your information.  It also speaks to the importance of paying attention to the details as you never know when they’ll be important.

Going back to the start of my story, here’s why:

So, I recognized a name of the attendance list that matched the name of one of the people who we always get calls for.  I chatted with her for a few minutes and then asked, “Did you happen to have the phone number. . . .”

Her eyes widened and she said, “How did you know?”

I explained the story (what a small world it is), and we both started laughing.  Turns out they had moved to Florida for a few months, found out it wasn’t a place they currently wanted to be, and came back to New York to be near friends and family.  They are now living in a different house, with a totally different phone number (obviously). :)

I then asked her if she would contact her doctor, dentist, etc. and update her records now that she is back.  Now that we’ve made a connection, I have no doubt she will.

The moral of the story?

Since we never know who we’re going to run into, and we never know how people will play a role in our lives, we always have to treat people as if they were our friends, our family, and potential people we might serve down the line. 

Meaning?

We should always “Lead for People,” because in so doing, we make sure that when we run into people in the future, or make random acquaintances (and the story above is proof that it will happen), we’ve never burned any bridges as all we’ve done is help build people up. 

And “Leading for People” doesn’t have to be difficult.  Simply, we need to treat people with the respect they deserve, give them voice and incorporate them in decision-making.