Communication – Proverbs 12:17 “A good man is known by his truthfulness.” My good friend Jen told me once that if you want to excel in life it helps to be a good communicator. I’ve been struggling with communication as of late. The message in my head doesn’t always come out like I want or think it should and it ends up offending or coming across as (to borrow the oft hated phrase) politically incorrect. I tell myself “people are way too sensitive if they can’t take the truth as I put it out there …” but are they?
Several things come to mind – Standards of Behavior, mandatory things, jeans at work, smiles and “hi” in the hallways, examples of leadership, hugs (shudder), a loving touch …
Years ago a local wise man spoke. He told me that in order to have a loving environment, the leader must be the servant. The leader must be the example of what he or she wants to see happen. Years ago, this wise man probably had a lot to do with this hospital taking a chance on a young and fairly green administrator. This wise sage over the years had a lot to do with moving forward on taking chances on young doctors and giving courage and strength in decisions that defied logic. This “Obi Wan”, when asked about jeans at work said “I don’t want to have to tell someone they have cancer wearing jeans; medicine is a noble profession”. This leader taught us that through our example we can move mountains through love and truth.
I’m around for a while; you’re stuck with me. But the wise sage is moving on in other life directions, and awesome for him. We would all do well though if we keep his “love and truth” message in our minds. When communicating – serve and respond from the heart. The heart is not politically incorrect.
