Take a Penny, Leave a Penny

A colleague just posted on Facebook, "I just can't, anymore. Between coronavirus and the election, I want to hide my head in the sand. How do you deal with so much freaking negativity?!?"

A recent Gallup poll showed that Americans are stressed. No surprise there. This is exacerbated when we consider that 28% of households have single occupants - so there is no one to greet us when we get home and kvetch. In many big cities where we are surrounded by people that statistic nearly doubles. Between the stress and isolation, some have argued that a "loneliness epidemic" is affecting people across the age spectrum from millennials to baby boomers. We can't muster the energy to say hello to our family when we walk in the door or pick up the phone to call a loved one let alone be collegial at work or particularly polite with strangers. Sometimes we don't have anything to give.

Other times, the weather is just perfect; the news is actually good; and our social life is better than ever. We are ebullient, overflowing with cheer and merriment, in our happy place, and indulging in our respective comfort food and beverage while being our best charismatic selves. At these times we may tip a bit more than usual at our local restaurant, be willing to hold the door open longer for a stranger, and share insights about our favorite places in random casual conversations. At these times we have a lot to give.

If we stop our busy lives for a minute and look around we can see people feeling the same way. Sometimes they have more to give and sometimes they have less.

Remember those Take a Penny, Leave a Penny trays you have seen, contributed to, and benefited from in convenience stores. Sometimes we pay for our items with a cashier and we need that one penny so that we don't have to break a $20, go back to the car for change, or put an item back. Other times, we have an extra penny we don't need, don't have pockets for, don't want to bother with, or just know can help someone else. Sometimes other people have a penny to spare. Sometimes other people need a penny because they don't have one. Each day we walk around with our own figurative version of Take a Penny, Leave a Penny trays where others can benefit from ours and we can benefit from theirs.

Walk around your workplace today. Look at those around you just for a second. They don't know when you need or have a penny. You don't know for them either. But it's just a penny. So, when you do have a penny to spare go ahead and give it: that extra smile, a compliment on someone's great job, asking someone how their day is going, or buying someone a cup of coffee. When we need that penny, we really appreciate getting it.

And if you are the boss I know you are really busy because, after all, time is money and the company depends on you. All the more reason to give a penny - in the form of small thoughtful gestures - in as many ways as you can because doing so often impacts employee turnover, someone's willingness to go that extra mile on an important project, whether staff members take another sick day, the willingness of one colleague to give their own extra penny to another, and much more. Ultimately, creating, growing, and maintaining a company culture in which people are valued, cared for, and highly motivated involves realizing that sometimes we all have a little extra to give and sometimes we have a little less but together there is plenty of pennies to go around.