Pouring Courage into One Another

Life is very hard at times, usually not all the time, but some or most of the time, for most people. I quickly did a sweep in my mind and I know of a number of people who are afflicted with cancer, had recent job losses, are suffering from mental illness, have financial problems, are struggling through a marital problem, divorce or miscarriage, are estranged from loved ones, lost a child, have addictions, are homeless or are bordering on it. The list goes on and on. Wow! Rough stuff.

The interesting thing is if you met many of these individuals at a Walmart or passed them in a car, you would probably never know their burdens! If you are fortunate or blessed enough not to be experiencing any of these right now, chances are you and I will or we did at one point in the past. No one is immune from difficulty or struggles! In fact, did you know that:

Keanu Reeves' father left his family when the actor was a child. He was a very good friend of River Phoenix, who died in 1993. His sister, Kim, has battled leukemia for over a decade. In 1998, Reeves fell in love and married Jennifer Syme who became pregnant with their child. The baby was stillborn at eight months, and then his wife was tragically killed in a car accident a mere 18 months after the birth.

Or that:

Shania Twain was born into poverty with five brothers and sisters in a rural part of Canada. As a child, she witnessed abuse to her mother from her stepfather. Her family was so poor, they often didn't have money for food or shoes for the long, cold winter. Things got even worse when her parents were killed in a car accident when she was only 22 years old. She then began singing to provide for her siblings.

Everyone at one time or another deals with difficult circumstances.

Bad things happen to good people.

So, if this is the case, then how are we supposed to help? Sure, we can give financially when we are capable and we can give our time to help others. But one thing that I have witnessed first-hand is the gift of support. Most people just need to have someone pour some courage into them. They need to know that someone is in their corner, is praying for them, is by their side, is rooting for them. People need to know they will get through this. They need to know that there is hope and someone cares.

As the saying goes and I have found to be so true, most of my associates didn’t care how much I knew until they knew how much I cared. When things got tough personally for them, I wanted to be the kind of leader and company that was in their corner, helping them to remain standing. I wanted to be there to cry with them, pray with them, encourage them and to celebrate when they came ‘out the other side’.

Want to be a success in business? I think most of it is based on how much you care about your team and their families. There appears to be a direct correlation to the output of love from the organization and in turn, the input of effort and loyalty from the individual. Plus, it is simply the right thing to do.

Thanks for reading this and have a great weekend.

With a goal to “help the next guy in line”, Glen Cavallo, a 30+ year healthcare executive has chosen to share the many lessons he has learned with others. Glen does this by serving as a coach/advisor to leaders at all levels of organizations, as a board member and as he presents inspirational speeches at regional, national, annual and awards meetings.