It’s true, a few common courtesies can save your life!
Let me tell you a story about what happened to Angus.
Angus worked at facility manufacturing medicines. One day, towards the end of his shift, he went to inspect the cold room that stored the medicines. Unfortunately, after he entered the cold room the door closed shut behind him. To his horror, the exit button failed and the emergency alarm appeared to be broken. Desperately, Angus screamed and hammered on the cold room door. His cries and the banging went unheard. It was the end of the workday and all of his colleagues had gone home.
Several hours later Angus was in real trouble. He was suffering from the onset of hypothermia and was on the verge of passing out. Suddenly, a security guard opened the cold room door, grabbed Angus and pulled him out. The guard wrapped Angus in several blankets and plonked him next to a warm radiator. He then made him a hot cup of tea.
Angus was very relieved and could feel the blood moving around his body again. He was starting to warm-up. When he had recovered, Angus asked the guard how come he went into the cold room when it wasn’t part of his regular patrol.
The guard replied: “I’ve been working in this facility for 20 years, Angus. Hundreds of people come in and out of the place every day. But you’re one of the few who greets me in the morning and says goodbye to me every night when you leave. I feel that many people treat me as though I’m invisible.”
“Oh! Is that so…,” replied Angus.
“Yes,” continued the guard. “And today, like every other day, you greeted me when you came to work. But I missed you saying goodbye. I knew something must have happened to you. So I decided to check around the facility to see if you were alright and luckily I found you in the cold room before it was too late.”
The story reminds me of the importance of being respectful to everyone around you. Never underestimate the impact you have on the lives of other people.
Everyone in an organisation has their role to fulfill, be it office cleaner, account executive or CEO.
Just because you can’t see the value in the roles that others perform doesn’t mean that people in those roles are not important.
And you can make someone feel special just by being polite.
A smile and some common courtesies might save your life one day. Just like it did with Angus.
Can you do this? I think you can. Do you?
To your success…
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I’m passionate about inspiring people to tap into their unique talents and strengths – to be the best they can be – to fulfill the potential they always knew they had. It’s not about ‘fixing’ you. Rather, it’s about helping you access the best part of yourself so you’re able to make the changes, release the dragons and powerfully step into your brilliance.
If you are interested in performance coaching, try my free 20-minute introductory session. Just contact me and I’ll arrange a time and date for us to chat by phone or face-to-face.
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Mark Russell Inspired Performance Coaching – Dedicated to Your Success.
