Who encourages you at work?
I have had many people encourage me along the way but one that stands out was not someone I saw every day on the trading floor but just off it.
Miss Barbara
Miss Barbara cleaned the kitchen and break room areas on the ten floors our company occupied. Most days when I was getting ice or warming something up, there she was…calling me by name with a smile.
She would ask how my kids were doing and what was going on in my life. She could usually sense it if I was having a tough day and let me know she would pray for me.
When I asked about her, she would tell me a few things going on and end with the same statement…”but I am blessed.”
Are You An Encourager?
So, what about you? Are you an encourager? Could you stand to grow in this area?
Encourage comes from the Old French word encoragier (which combines en-, meaning “to put in,” and corage, meaning “courage”). The ultimate root is the Latin word cor, which means “heart.” So, to encourage is “to put courage into someone, to give them heart.”
Some people are naturally encouraging. Others must work at it. Either way, it is a needed trait to be a healthy team member. I have a friend who laughs and says he has the gift of discouragement. Make sure that is not you…especially if you are a leader.
Encouragement isn’t just about caring for people. It’s about helping people feel cared for.
4 Things
What made Miss Barbara such a great encourager? I believe it was four things:
- She saw me…use people’s names…it’s their favorite word
- She remembered important details about my life…make a note about the details of your team members’ lives to ask about in the future
- She was positive and laughed easily…enjoy your people
- Even when she got onto me (“Don’t be messing up my clean kitchen”) she kept smiling…even a correction can be kept light
Here’s a challenging leadership exercise: ask a few trusted stakeholders, “After a typical interaction with me, do you generally feel more deflated or more uplifted?”
Their answer may tell you more about your leadership than any performance review.
One thing about being around Miss Barbara, we always felt better walking away than when we walked up…until one day. I noticed she seemed a little flat and moving slow. When I asked, she said she just was tired. When she was the same the next day, I asked what was going on and she said she had just been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. I was devastated as I knew everyone else would be.
The Gathering
The next morning, I asked if she would be open to having a gathering in the conference room that afternoon for some of us to pray for her. She seemed touched and agreed. That afternoon over 40 people squeezed into a conference room and surrounded Miss Barbara while several of us prayed for her, attempting to put courage into her and give her heart. It was one of the most special moments in my 30 years with the company.
Unfortunately, Miss Barbara had to stop working soon afterwards and passed away a few weeks later. She lost the battle but won the war because she took a position that could have easily just stayed in the background and turned into her platform.
Miss Barbara never held a leadership title, never managed a department and didn’t even have an office.
Yet on the list of impactful coworkers, she is at the top for how she touched me and literally hundreds of others because she left a legacy of encouragement.
That’s what encouragement does. Long after accomplishments are forgotten, people remember how you made them feel.
Your Legacy
What kind of legacy are you actively building?
Who has been the most encouraging person in your career? Feel free to comment below.
