Relationships: How do you treat them?

This story from Harry Geist at ChartHouse Learning is a great lesson for leaders. It's part of Choose Your Attitude, one of six programs in the new FISH! For Leaders video series:

 

I’ll never forget the day my seven-year-old son David and I stopped by my in-laws’ house to see their brand new car. It was a green two-door with new car smell and a temporary license taped to the back window. The car glistened in the sun as David hopped into the driver’s seat and pretended to drive.

 

It was the first new car that Larry, my father-in-law, had ever bought. We admired it for a few minutes, then Larry took down an old bike from the rafters in the garage that had belonged to David’s mother when she was a girl. David peddled down the sidewalk and Larry and I went inside the house.

 

A few minutes later David walked in, wide-eyed and pale. He said to Larry, “Grandpa, I have to show you something outside.”

 

David guided us to the new car where he showed us a long, deep scratch running the entire length of the driver’s door. He then showed us where the plastic grips on the handles of the bike had worn through, exposing the unfinished metal handles. Tears welling in his eyes, David explained that he had ridden too close to the car while riding up the driveway.

 

Larry got down on one knee, put his arm around David’s shoulder, looked him in the eye and said gently, “David, I’m glad you told me about this. I hope you always feel like you can talk to me about anything.”

 

“I’m sorry, Grandpa,” David said.

 

“I can see that you are, David. Don’t worry about it. You can go play now.”

 

David gave Larry a hug and ran off. As David’s father, I felt responsible for the scratch so I apologized to Larry. I also admitted that had I been in his shoes I probably would have gone ballistic.

 

Larry spoke to me as gently as he had spoken to David. “Cars are just metal, and they come and go,” he said. “But my relationship with my grandson is forever.”

 

Problems, crises and disagreements come and go. They are temporary, like Larry’s car. But your relationships with your colleagues—the people with whom you spend most of your waking hours, the people you depend upon every day—are not so easily replaced.

 

- Your work relationships might not be “forever,” but what if you treated them as if they were?

- How would you treat colleagues when they make mistakes?

- What effect might this have on employee morale and turnover?

- What impact might it have on your customers?

- How might it affect the level of trust between you and your team?