Set an Example for All to Emulate

Since 2016 I have been, as many of you know, or now know, in a battle (now two) with cancer.?

?It dawned on me the first day I walked into the Infusion Center for my first chemo treatment that the patients were all scared, fearful and unsure of what the future would bring to them and the impact that cancer and cancer treatments would have on their loved ones. ?

The care givers, the staff, have a very tough and important job. These individuals are dealing with people who not only don't want to be there, but more importantly, may well be facing death in the not so very distant future. Yet, regardless of the situation, the care givers must be polite, professional and positive.?

For the patients, this is not an easy time. For those of you that don’t know, despite significant medical breakthroughs and improvements in cancer treatments, and these are ongoing, the basic tool remains chemotherapy, often delivered the old fashioned way. Meaning the large plastic bags of chemicals are delivered through a needle in a hand, arm or leg or a port is placed into the body which eliminates the needle delivery method.

This is the same medical tool used when my mother was diagnosed and died from lung cancer in 1969.?

There are side effects to chemotherapy. Hair loss, loss of appetite, inability of the body to handle food, fatigue, constipation, and an overall feeling of blah are just a few that I remember thinking I would have, but not all impacted me. It is said that the cure is often the worst part of dealing with cancer.??

Oh, and one more thing, the chemotherapy that I received was cumulative. Despite my treatments being three weeks apart, the chemo lingered and built up in my body. By the time I finished my treatment schedule, I still had plenty of chemo killing all growing cells. I didn’t feel normal for many months following my Infusion Center celebration when I finished the last of the four treatments.

That first time in the Infusion Center, I surveyed the landscape, and I made a decision that I was going to be the very best patient that the people in the infusion center (staff and patients) saw that day.

As frightened as I was at my own unknown journey and my destination, whatever that was going to be, I hid my fears and bulled my way through my visits at the Infusion Center, with smiles, laughter, and whatever other tools I had, to help those around me get through their day.

I share this not for your sympathy or silent applause but because when someone is facing the unknown, not knowing what the short or long term future of their life will be, they go through the seven stages that we are all familiar with: denial; guilt; bargaining; depression; then the upward turn; working through the situation; and, finally, acceptance and hope.

As leaders, whatever your title is and whatever organization you are in, I think we often overlook how important our attitude, our words, our tone, our facial expressions, our body language is when we deal with the people we work with.

We probably provide too much value, over telling people who really need guidance and boundaries and support and encouragement. They don’t need lectures or being second guessed. Some people might need micromanaging, deal with them directly. For the others, let them do what they are on the payroll to do. Coach them to be better by your leadership and example.

My goal in writing this article was to provide you with a new perspective on leadership. Find a nugget in what I have written and make the lives around you better. Pay it forward. Not just today, but every day.

?Be positive;? be helpful; for yourself and those around you.?Thank you.