When I was in elementary school, I wasn’t exactly the best-behaved, most mild-mannered kid in the classroom. I liked to talk when the teacher was talking, mess with the people sitting around me and occasionally crack a joke out loud. How do you think most teachers would classify me? Maybe as the class clown, obnoxious, rude, poorly behaved or annoying? Back to this in a minute.
As a young professional, you must be willing to see the positives in every one. You need to see the positives in your friends, family, co-workers and those who are smarter than you, dumber than you, younger than you, older than you and absolutely everyone else who you come in contact with. Being able to see the positives in everyone around you will make you a better person, manager, leader and teammate. Very few people in this world are able to look at the people around them and see positive characteristics in everyone – I challenge you to be the person who can instantly identify the positives in EVERY person you interact with.
Alright, back to my story… So I wasn’t the best behaved student in class and let’s be honest; most people wouldn’t want someone like me in their class. In second grade, I had a teacher named Mrs. Natali who took a different approach, which made ALL the difference in my life. She saw me as an enthusiastic student with a great deal of passion. She also showed me how to love writing and how to have the desire to become better at it. Her approach, which was different than any other teacher’s I have ever had, was to see the positives in every student and have each of them focus those strengths to become great people and students.
The point of the story is simple: see the positives in every one. It may just make all of the difference in their lives.