Early this afternoon I finished working out and headed down a wide open flight of stairs to leave. The stairs have two lanes – one side for going up and the other for down. As I was going down a man with a cane was slowly coming up, taking the next step only after pausing on the prior step with both feet. He was probably in his mid thirties and based on my size and weight, he was probably close to 375 pounds or easily more. My guess is he was there to start the long journey into regaining his health. As I continued down the stairs I realized I had to say something. Had to? Needed to? Whatever it was it was from the Boss.
As I passed by him, I spoke to him without looking up, saying “progress is made in small steps”. I did not expect a response, so I was surprised when he softly and sincerely said “thank you”. It was only then did I realize what I did. You see, I made a comment about his progress up the stairs. He heard a comment in support of the hugely difficult task he undertook to make his life healthier.
[Lesson from my perspective]: I think the receiving of a message is far more important than the sending of it. Meaning that we need to say what the Boss asks us to say, even if we believe it has little value. The message we think we are giving is not as important as the message received.
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