October 21st, 2009
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A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door!
He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting,“What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are! you doing? That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?”
The young boy was apologetic. “Please, mister..please, I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to do,” He pleaded, “I threw the brick because no one else would stop…”
With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. “It’s my brother,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
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February 20th, 2009
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It is my observation that some leaders deal, with those whom they’ve been entrusted to lead, with what I would call ‘rough hands’.
Now I am first to agree that leadership is a tough gig at times, but a great leader will use ‘soft hands’, even in the midst of a change or a forced transition period. We as leaders at times need to make the hard call, but in the midst of the ‘hard’ therein lies the need for the ‘soft touch’ of compassion.
For there is a right way to handle people and there is a wrong way. The right way will allow for smooth movement, and provide encouraging, clear and compassionate direction, along with positive support.
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December 6th, 2008
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Not my words, but words featured in a PEANUTS cartoon. And if we’re all completely honest, there are times when we all come across people who, how can I put it tactfully, rub us up the wrong way. They are abrasive. They are negative. They are obnoxious.
So what do we do with them?
Love them.
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March 7th, 2008
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Albert Schweitzer once wrote, “The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.”
Schweitzer was one of the world’s greatest interpreters of Bach and often gave recitals in cathedrals all over Europe. His philosophical speeches and writings made him famous throughout his lifetime. Yet he chose to become an accomplished doctor and research scientist, in order to spend most of his long life as a missionary doctor in the tiny village of Lambarene, in the Gabon province of French Equatorial Africa.
With the world at his feet, Dr Schweitzer chose to turn his back on both fame and fortune in order to build a hospital for the ‘forgotten people’ on the banks of the Ogowe River.
The world now remembers him not for his achievements in music, nor for his books or even the Nobel Peace Prize he won. He is remembered because he chose to share his life generously with those in need.
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