Bringing joy to others
I pay attention to what happens when there is no agenda.
Some of the most revealing things I learn about a leader happen outside the meeting. Walking through an office. Sitting down for a meal. Talking after everyone else has packed up.
When there is a presentation to give, a decision to make, or a customer to impress, most of us know how to show up.
The moments in between tell you something different.
In my work with leaders, I spend a lot of time trying to understand how they see their business. What are they worried about? Where do they see opportunity? What are they trying to change?
I also pay attention to how they move through the world around them.
Do they know people’s names?
Do they stop to say hello?
When they meet someone they do not know, do they introduce themselves?
These may seem like small gestures, but people notice where a leader directs their attention.
Every interaction answers a question: Do I matter here?
Does status change their behavior?
I notice the same thing over a meal.
How does someone speak to the person taking the order?
Do they look up? Do they say thank you?
Do they treat that interaction as part of the evening or as an interruption to it?
Senior leaders spend much of their lives around people who have a reason to accommodate them. That makes the moments when there is nothing to gain especially revealing.
How we treat people who cannot advance our agenda says a great deal about how we handle influence and authority.
The same is true in conversation.
You can usually feel the difference between someone who is interested in you and someone who is simply trying to get somewhere.
Genuine curiosity changes the conversation. People relax. They share more. Trust develops because the exchange feels human rather than transactional.
I have jokingly called this my Coffee and a Bagel test.
Spend a little unstructured time with someone and you can often learn more than you would in several formal meetings.
The lesson applies inside organizations, too.
Employees notice who gets greeted in the hallway. They notice whether senior leaders listen when a junior colleague speaks. They notice whose names are remembered and whose contributions are acknowledged.
None of these moments takes very long.
Together, they teach people what kind of organization they are part of.
There is joy in being seen.
A leader can create that feeling in a few seconds by giving someone their full attention, asking a sincere question, remembering a name, or acknowledging work that usually happens quietly in the background.
Those interactions are important because people who feel valued are more willing to speak candidly. They are more likely to extend trust. They are more willing to contribute what they really think.
Small interactions travel farther than we imagine.
The Pebble
Pay attention to how you engage with people when there is nothing you need from them.
Who do you greet?
Whose name do you remember?
Are you curious about the person in front of you, or already thinking about what comes next?
The Ripple
This week, choose three ordinary interactions you might normally move through without much thought.
In one, learn or remember someone’s name.
In another, ask one more question and stay long enough to hear the answer.
In the third, acknowledge someone whose work often happens in the background.
Then notice what changes when you give someone your full attention for a few extra seconds.
The Question
Think about the people you encounter in the ordinary moments of your day.
When they walk away from you, do they feel seen?
Bringing joy can be remarkably simple.
Sometimes it begins by letting another person know: I see you.
Be Safe. Be Inspired. Be You.
-Joe Morgan
