Ultimate Alignment

In my early 20s I waited tables at a local restaurant. The owner had this crazy belief that each of us had greatness inside us. Sounds a bit over the top for a part time restaurant job, right? I loved the job and eventually moved on. A few years after I left, two of the restaurant’s employees passed away within about a week of each other. One from a car accident. The other from a serious illness.?

They weren’t managers with years of tenure or people who brought millions in revenue to the restaurant. They were a server and a busser. And yet, the owner recognized the greatness inside them and wanted to celebrate it. Acting on his belief, he closed the restaurant on a Saturday night, giving up thousands of dollars of revenue, and invited family, friends and team members to come and celebrate the lives of those two employees.

The Principle

The trait that comes to mind when I think of that owner is honesty. Honesty has taken on a special meaning to me. I’m not suggesting my definition is THE definition. It’s what it means for me in a leadership context.?

Honesty means our behavior aligns with what we profess to stand for, especially when it’s inconvenient.?

No matter our position or title, we all have influence. People look to us – our children, our team, our friends. We’ll never get it right all the time, but showing consistency between what we value and how we behave strengthens relationships.?

The Practice

Living honestly is a daily pursuit. Here are a couple of nudges to get your mind thinking about what it can look like for you:

1. Discover or revisit what you stand for. Identify the values or behaviors that help you take that stand. Gentle reminder: Write your values as verbs!
2. Create a trigger. Every time you walk through a doorway, pass under a traffic light, sit in a chair (whatever!), repeat in your mind one of the values or behaviors you want to embody.?

What other practices come to mind that could help you live in alignment with what you stand for?

Till next time,?

dm