Be Humble.
Welcome to week #22 of The AD Way!
BE HUMBLE.
The world doesn’t revolve around any one of us. Don’t let your personal agenda or ego get in the way of doing what’s best for the team. Worrying about who gets credit or taking things personally is counterproductive. Seek input and be open to feedback. Make sure every decision is about advancing team goals and a result of collaboration.
People who are sick, poor, beat down, exhausted by life or depressed, don’t need you or me telling them they ought to be more humble. When people are down, they don’t need a lecture on humility. People that are down need encouragement and help. They need compassion and love. They need a reason to have faith in a better tomorrow. People that are down need lifting up.
So, here’s the deal.
If you or someone you love is sick, or if you are blue and worried about the future or are simply feeling more unsure of yourself than usual, then you are excused from this week’s fundamental exercises! That’s right. Excused.
When someone asks you a discussion question at the start of any meeting, just say “Thank you for asking me that, but Bill said I don’t have to participate this week.” That’s it. Free pass!
When you get the email containing the lesson of the week you have my permission to ignore it. Don’t read the lesson. Don’t click on the link. Don’t take that quiz!!
You’ll also want to ignore “first” and “final” email reminders we will send you on Thursday and Friday! Those are auto generated. Sent by one computer to another. Please don’t take them personally.
Rest assured, your nonparticipation will not go onto your AD record, permanent or otherwise. We will treat this as an excused absence, just as if you were on PTO, which you probably should be!
We all feel downtrodden some of the time. It’s a natural part of life. Hopefully, we have friends, family, and coworkers who care enough to listen to our worries, our fears and pain and provide us with a compassionate ear, encouragement and maybe even words of wisdom.
Let’s be sure we let them in enough this holiday season to give them that chance.
And when we are feeling stronger, back to our “old selves” and ready to once again take on the world, this week’s fundamental will be waiting and worth a read. Because just as the lowly need to be lifted up, those who are killing it need to be strongly cautioned lest they stumble and fall.
In truth, arrogance and pride are just as dangerous when we are down as when we’re up. Because they blind us to the reality that neither our lowest lows, nor our highest highs are permanent or all our doing.
If there’s one lesson we should all be learning during this pandemic, it is surely that.