“The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.” ~ Brian Tracy
I am visiting my youngest son whose wife gave birth to their second child, my first grand-daughter, ten days ago. Their first child was a boy.
I hold her and feel two things simultaneously: grand hopes for and belief in her future and its possibilities (I’m an optimist), coupled with this sort of confusion and doubt—a girl…what does one do with a baby girl?
This is unknown territory for me: I have two sons. I understand how boys are wired. I think boys are easy.
Weird woman that I am, I have a thought:
That same combination of feelings is experienced by those who manage/lead new employees. They’re entering new territory with a new person and the future is unknown: they hope it’ll turn out great, but it’s linked to fear it might not. Relief, hope and trepidation all mixed up.
So I gaze at this little girl. Madelyn. And accept her, and her future—as yet undetermined—and quietly commit to support her, and model for her my belief in her as yet undemonstrated future capabilities and character qualities.
It occurs to me that if all leaders, managers, and bosses greeted all new hires with that level of commitment to the new hire’s long-term success—their as yet undetermined, undemonstrated contributions to the organization—we might have a hell of a lot less turnover in the workplace.
Trust is the coin of the realm, and the currency of all great leaders. Always has been, always will be.
Studies show that oxytocin, the “trust” hormone, is released in the brains of those while being trusted by others just as babies and new mothers abound in that chemical reaction while breast-feeding.
What if managers accepted and supported new hires the way a grandparent does? Might those employees feel it and respond to it?
Might they trust themselves—and you—a little more?
I suspect so.
As I said, just a thought.
“My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.” ~Michael J. Fox
