Small Gestures Go a Long Way

I am going to take a bit of literary license here and write about something that has nothing to do with legal advice. I can't help myself. Last night I arrived home after a pretty stressful day at work. My cleaning lady, who has been cleaning my house for about three years now, left me a letter. Without going into a lot of detail, let me just say that this letter made my day. She wanted to let me know how I had, in a few small ways, influenced her life. She had recently experienced the death of her cousin who was about her age, and she has come away from that experience feeling strongly that we should reach out to others more, and let people know how we feel about them. So, she explained to me, she just wanted to let me know how I had touched her life. I had absolutely no idea and so, when I read this letter, well, I just had such a warm feeling. It completely changed my mood and made me think about how grateful I am for my life and the people I have in it.

Without getting any more sappy than I already have, I just wanted to relay this story to readers out there. I think it could serve as an important reminder to all of us that we need to let the people around us know how we feel about them, at least once in awhile. Now let me tie this back into some semblance of a business-related topic. Most of us spend a large part of our day at work with co-workers and employees. If you are a business owner you know that the strength of your staff is very importat to the success of your business. These employees are people in our lives too. And it is equally important that we let these people know how much they are valued and how they influence and shape our day to day lives. So give this some thought and maybe there is someone that you work with who could use a pat on the back today, a short note letting them know how great they are. It really doesn't take much more than a thought to make someone's day. And retaining motivated, caring employees who feel like valued team members makes good business sense.

Ok. I got that off my chest and now I feel better. Tomorrow, back to legal stuff.