Leadership

I remember hearing a story about a famous film producer. As a child, he had a fight with another boy and lost. While his mother was bathing his black eye, he told her how it was entirely the fault of the other boy. It was the other boy who had started the fight, he claimed.

His mother said nothing, but when the first aid was completed, she took her son to the back door of their home. Nearby were several hills that created a fine echo. She told him to call those hills all the bad names he could think of. He did so and the bad names all came back to him.

“Now,” she said, as the story goes, “call out, ‘God bless you.’ ” He did so and back came, “God bless you.”

The movie producer never forgot that lesson. What you give to others you get back from them.

Stevenson, P. (2007). 5 Things Anyone Can Do to Lead Effectively (pp. 30–31). Indianapolis, IN: WPH.