The little things mean everything

You are tired from a busy 1st workday on the road.   You check into your familiar weekly-stay hotel.   You enter your room to find it wasn’t cleaned yet.   A polite call to the front desk yields a quick and genuine display of compassion.

As you continue your business calls in-room, the key to a clean room is slid under your door.

You enter your 2nd room to find a clean dish set, bottles of ‘cold’ water and chocolates, the later not a typical part of your experience and the former something you typically must retrieve from the front desk.

One person’s humble acts of compassion shape and inspire your day.  

Far too often, we fail to see (and acknowledge) these beautiful displays of support and kindness.

Sometimes we unintentionally dilute and pollute this servitude by labeling it as leadership, with tidy frameworks to make it “repeatable”.   Often, words and frameworks get in the way of the [true] knowledge that can be ‘had’ by just being Present, in the moment, with another kind person amidst their ‘humble operation’.

This was a real moment between two human beings.   An act of giving without concern for receiving.

I type this message, the morning after this beautiful gesture from Lori, the Extended Stay manager in Herndon VA.

Lori demonstrates being passionate about how she serves society and remaining Present with each and every person.

Lori was in her 14th work hour on her 15th consecutive work day, when I interacted with her.   She was mentally Present with me, despite her situation.   Lori could have expedited the interviewing process and replenished her work staff, allowing her not to work 7 days a week, often > 12 hours per day, but she didn’t.   Lori realizes that she is modeling the way through her actions as this location’s “leader”.   She takes the time to find more people who will also BE and remain Present with customers, to ensure they offer a similar experience to people in need.

Words cannot sufficiently express our appreciation for all of the Loris in our lives.

The little things mean everything in life.