Be Kind

July 3rd, 2008 — tonymayo

80% of success is showing up.

Woody Allen

A few years ago I started my day angry. I had an important meeting and when I got to my office I saw that the whiteboard had still not been installed. The office manager had promised several times to get it done but there it sat on the floor. I was calculating whether I had time to drive home to get my own tools when she walked in carrying a drill.

We quickly hanged the board together while she apologized, “I had to get up at 4:00 to drive my daughter to my mother’s house because her father didn’t come for her last night.”

I was immediately relieved that I had not vented my anger. I–my meeting–was the reason she had gone to extraordinary lengths…and why a little girl had to move from bed to car in the night.

In the small world of my requirements and concerns the office manager was unreliable. In the fuller context of life she was determined and resourceful.

I try to remember this incident and be more compassionate when evaluating people’s behavior at work. How they do in the office doesn’t tell me who they are. Some people are already heroes by the time they arrive.