One of the business units I’ve been asked to help solidify has grown from two guys and a trailer twelve years ago to a twenty person Team, with seven of them either new or new to the group this week!

We decided to undergo an ice breaking exercise compounded with “speed dating” where senior leadership was part of round one and managers were part of round two and the rest of the group sat at tables while management circulated.  It was a very successful exercise with personalities coming out, humor to speed things along and a palpable feeling of camaraderie by the time we finished.

One of the facts that came out that just about made all of us “ugly face” cry was of the family who has been foster parents for two infants, one girl, one boy for two years when the biological mother of the little boy decided she wanted him back.  While heartbreaking in itself, the little girl and her situational awareness was the clincher.  The mother and son were reunited so the foster parents, hoping to become the adopted parents of the little girl were overjoyed to tears when they learned they would be the little girl’s parents.  Hearing the play by play, the anxiety and eventual joy from the big man with a bigger heart, the inflection in his voice as he shared this fabric-of-his-family story … was a gift.  He dove into the vulnerability exercise and melted all of our hearts a little more that day.

There are three core Team members with adopted children.  Each story gave insight that may have taken months or years to find out otherwise.  What incredible insight gained because we took the time to listen.

Lessons applied:

•People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

•As my old pastor Jerry Carlson used to say as he wrapped up his sermon, “As you go out into the world this week, remember, everyone is fighting a battle of some kind… so be gentle.”

Have a blessed weekend!