People want to feel cared for EVERYWHERE they are—at home, shopping in a store, at work, everywhere.
Sheila is the manager of the company where she works, and she’s been experimenting with being more loving. The other day she gave an assignment to an employee, Sandra, who then did her best but failed to complete the assignment in a way that met company standards. Sheila explained what needed to be corrected, and it was obvious that Sandra felt bad about it.
Sheila looked Sandra in the eye and said firmly, “You did not screw up here. I did. I didn’t give you enough information or training to do this task correctly. It was my mistake.”
Sandra floated out of the room and noticeably increased her efforts to do a good job that day.
The same day, Sheila asked Ron, another employee, how he was doing, and after he muttered something like, “Fine,” she grabbed him by the collar with both hands and looked him firmly in the eyes as she said, “I was really asking you how you felt.” (Yes, you’d have to know someone pretty well before you did such a thing.)
Ron poured his heart out about a personal problem he was having, and Sheila suddenly understood why Ron’s work had been a bit lackluster over the past few days. His attitude improved from that point on, just because somebody had cared enough to ask.
Loving people at work doesn’t mean hugging and kissing them. It means listening to them, looking them in the eye, noticing when something is wrong, and just caring about their happiness. They need it, and we are so much happier when we give it freely.
