The most popular words at work that I hear about these days include equity, diversity, inclusion, safety, sustainability, and many others. Add yours to the list. Maybe some of these are your favorites too. Without commenting on those words, let me share three of my favorites:
Merit.
I care least about the the factors that you had nothing to do with. These include your country of origin, your skin or hair color, your gender, your height, the color of your eyes and on and on. These mean nothing to me. What I do care about is what you’ve done with what you’ve been given. Have you worked hard, improved yourself, become qualified, shown integrity and perseverance? These factors mean a lot to me.
Attitude.
If you have the right attitude, you can overcome so many hurdles. And the most basic attitude to cultivate is one of gratitude. Make a list of all the advantages you have that you didn’t earn. Ignore your disadvantages for a moment and just concentrate on the gifts you’ve been given. These include clean water, basic justice (not perfect), infrastructure (like roads and sewer systems), technology, novocaine, and on and on. We live in the best part of the world at the best time to be a human being in all of human history. Start there.
When you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack. When you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have.
Care.
When others see that you truly want the best for the organization, and the best outcome for each person, your credibility soars. Sometimes care for the organization involves making unpopular decisions, and sometimes caring for a person means saying things they would rather not hear. But when it comes from a heart of concern and empathy, they’re much more likely to listen.
These are 3 of my favorite words. Maybe you think I’m nuts or worse. What are yours?
