I’m a firm believer that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and subscribe to the notion that as long as we are learning and growing, we continue to ‘be raised’.
During a recent coaching session with a client whose background goes from law enforcement to entrepreneur to author to corporate business person, we talked about how his words and actions impact others and how he, as a leader, has the opportunity to influence so much positive change for his team.
In the midst of our dialogue, he took a deep breath and told me a story that brought us both to tears.
Many years ago, while in law enforcement, my client – let’s call him Ethan – arrested a female minor who was clearly making poor decisions. At the time of her arrest, Ethan spent some time with her, giving her some ‘straight talk’ or tough love. He told her that she was better than her behaviour showed, that she had a choice to make about how she wanted to live in the future and that the arrest was wake up call to get her act together.
Fast forward a number of years to Ethan as author. His publisher had an advance copy of Ethan’s first book, with his picture prominently displayed on the jacket, on the kitchen table when a new neighbour dropped in to borrow an egg. She took a look at the book lying on the table and asked if the author was a former police officer. When the publisher confirmed this was the case, she started shaking and told him that because of Ethan’s straight talk when he arrested her, she is now in her final year at the Police Academy!!
Think about this random coincidence and how it occurred. Ethan just happened to be the one to arrest her. He took it upon himself to give her a different perspective of her future and the choices she was making. The publisher and the woman were neighbours. So Ethan learned what a profound and life-changing impact he had on this woman’s life. How incredibly powerful!
Do you know how you impact others? At every interaction, how do your words and your actions affect the people around you? What is your role in the village?
