“You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.”
—John Knox
There’s an elementary school at the end of the street where Truffle and I walk everyday and there a lots of kids in our neighborhood. When kids see Truffle, their first instinct is to run up to her, because she’s soooo cute, and try to pet her. Their movements are quick and Truffle will have none of that. She automatically runs between my legs and looks up at me. “Mom, pick me up, I’m afraid.”
Once I pick her up and instruct those who want to pet her to move slowly, carefully toward her, and not reach over her head, she relaxes. She will let them pet her because she’s in the my arms and trusts that I won’t let anyone harm her.
People are kind of like Truffle. When they are afraid, collaboration is almost impossible. If a leader makes one person on the team feel fearful of risk taking, an impatient boss, or that new ideas will be scoffed at, then teamwork between the leader and followers will begin to fall apart. Fear of making mistakes will prevent many worthwhile efforts from happening.
Like Truffle, (pictured. Don’t you just want to pet her?) people need to be cared for, not only physically, but emotionally, as well. People in our lives want to feel encouraged, recognized, secure and hopeful. They want to be nurtured. If we want to increase our influence in others’ lives, we can start by nurturing.
Does that mean we need to be pushovers? Not at all. Nurturing is genuinely caring for others. If we dislike, belittle, gossip, and focus on others’ weaknesses, they’ll pull back like Truffle, because trust will be lacking. We can and should demand excellence, and deliver feedback with love, respect and appreciation of their efforts.
“You don’t build a business–you build people–and then people build the business.” Zig Ziglar
Who do you need to nurture this week?
Make it a great one!
Jan
Jan McDonald
The John Maxwell Team
www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/janmcdonald
On Facebook https://business.facebook.com/janmariemcdonald/
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