Respect

My parents taught me to be respectful of others.  It is a lesson I’ve never forgotten.

Sadly, in our day, far too often respect for others seems to be a value long forgotten.

I was taken with the words of the Queen yesterday whilst speaking at the WI in Norfolk, she said: “The continued emphasis on patience, friendship, a strong community focus, and considering the needs of others, are as important today as they were when the group was founded all those years ago.

“Of course, every generation faces fresh challenges and opportunities.

“As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture.”

She said these approaches were “timeless, and I commend them to everyone”

Respect is a gift to be given freely and generously around the dinner table, the canteen table or the boardroom table. Please choose to be more respectful, more selfless, more tolerant, more kind, more friendly.

“When we treat people merely as they are, they will remain as they are. When we treat them as if they were what they should be, they will become what they should be.” – Thomas S. Monson

Learning

I love this story I learned about again at the weekend..

“Two axemen who held a contest to determine who could cut down more trees in a day. At sunrise the contest commenced. Every hour the smaller man wandered off into the forest for 10 minutes or so. Each time he did this, his opponent smiled and nodded, assured that he was forging ahead. The larger man never left his post, never stopped cutting, never took a break.

When the day ended, the larger man was shocked to learn that his opponent, who seemingly wasted so much time, had cut many more trees than he. “How did you do it when you took so many breaks?” he asked.

The winner replied, “Oh, I was sharpening my axe.” – as shared by Tad R. Callister

Stephen Covey shares a similar story about sharpening your saw.

I believe this story is so relevant to many of us isn’t it?

We can get frustrated, debilitated even by the challenges of so many aspects of life and our inability to cope.  Far too frequently however, instead of developing ourselves and taking the time to become more effective, we keep struggling with a blunt axe..

So – don’t do it anymore. Choose to stop, slow down, sharpen your axe and become much more effective.

The key to learning is continuous development.

What will you stop to sharpen today?

Sharing

“Life is about creating and living experiences that are worth sharing.” – Steve Jobs

We need to talk about what we’re learning.  Continuous learning is one of the keys to success in life, no matter what you do.  A phrase I have heard a lot recently during many coaching conversations is that “sharing is caring”.   For children, sharing can be a difficult challenge to master, but an important one to learn and carry into adulthood.

As a coach and learning facilitator, frequently I share thoughts, ideas and insights to help others meet some of their challenges in the workplace or in their own life, one by one or in a workshop.  The knowledge comes from my own experiences, personal learning & study, but also what has been shared with me.

In our technology savvy world, we live in an age of sharing. Mark Zuckerberg wrote when setting up Facebook –  “I wanted to create an environment where people could share whatever information they wanted, but also have control over whom they shared that information with.”

Sharing – “to give a portion of (something) to another or others”.  There are some real benefits to sharing:

  1. It builds trust
  2. You feel good
  3. It brings things to life
  4. It creates understanding
  5. It makes things real

Show you care today and share.