Motivational
I received a very pleasant surprise yesterday morning. I took this week off from work…mostly. I’ve answered a few work emails and calls, but avoided work for the most part. I know it’ll be there when I get back on Monday.
So, it should be of no surprise that I didn’t answer my cell yesterday morning when I saw a call come across without the caller ID. I often answer my phone if I’m free, no matter if the caller ID is blocked. Not so yesterday, but I wish I’d picked up.
You see, I recently wrote about how I was inspired by Simon Sinek’s video on TED titled, Start With Why (YouTube link). It helped me redefine our company goals and refocus my efforts. Apparently, Simon has a bot running online, checking for appearances of his name, or maybe someone who reads my blog knows him and pointed him to the article. In either case, he saw my post, read it, and decided to call and thank me for it!
Later in the morning when I listened to his voice mail, I couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t necessarily for the recognition, nor being contacted by someone who recently inspired me, but all of that combined with the fact that he called personally. He didn’t send me an email, or ask someone else to call or email on his behalf. He did it himself.
He didn’t have to do this, given the publicity he already received by appearing at TED and having his video circulated online. Yet, he called me, someone he may have read about online, but has never met. Not only that, he left a very pleasant voice mail thanking me for helping him show others how to find their “why.”
His message was bouncing around my head all day yesterday as I spent it with my family. I woke up this morning rejuvenated from spending time with my family and reminded of Simon’s kind act. I couldn’t quite describe it aside from just feeling a certain way. That is, I couldn’t describe it until now.
It takes very little effort to pick up the phone and call, yet we often don’t do it even for people we know. I’m certainly guilty of this occasionally. No matter what business we’re in, we all deal with people who have mothers, fathers, relatives, and friends; people with wants, needs, loves and fears. They may not believe in everything we do, but they experience life in many of the same ways.
Yet, we can easily act as automatons, giving the same response to every person, the same dry smile, or happy face in an email, through the same medium whether that’s Twitter, Facebook, or in our blogs. It’s all cold, heartless, devoid of emotions, unless we reach out and talk to someone in-person or at least over the phone. Only then do we connect on every level, through speech, our body language, and may be even something ethereal and soulful.
Whether Simon meant to connect at that level through conscious effort or by instinct, I don’t know. I just know I’m grateful for it, not only for being the recipient of the message, but for having had the chance to use his example to inspire others to do the same.
My only regret is that I haven’t his number and couldn’t find it online so that I could reciprocate and connect with him on the human, emotional level.
If you read this Simon, I thank you and I hope to speak with you soon.
What Do You Think?
How can you demonstrate your part as a human being? Whom can you reach to show some compassion? Feel free to share your thoughts and humanity below.
Photo Credit: Biz Growth Nation