Every Christmas, my niece buys me one of those rip off a page a day calendars with interesting quotes. Well, some are interesting anyway. One day in September, I ripped off yesterday and found the new quote for the day…
“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.”
I immediately thought of one of my passions which is bully prevention. I volunteer for an organization called Child Abuse Prevention Services on Long Island and we go into classrooms and conduct presentations for the kids on all sorts of child safety issues, including bullying. When we teach them about community and that our classroom is a community, and we do an exercise where we ask them to complete this sentence, “If you are not my friend, you are my _____________.”
Undoubtedly, they say enemy, thinking of course in black and white terms. Then we start to explain to them that we know and work with many people, and although they are not our friends, they are not our enemies either, they are our colleagues or neighbors for example. In school, we call them classmates. We go on to make lists of things friends do together, things classmates do and things enemies do. The bottom line is that we don’t have to be friends with all our classmates, but enemies are not allowed in a caring classroom.
I’m so glad we are teaching this kind of character education to our kids, and I hope it has an effect on how they grow up and enter into the workforce. When we talk about customer service or working as a team, this is one of the best competencies you can bring to the table, a caring attitude. People with a caring attitude listen to others before telling them what they think. They try to understand the other person’s point of view. And when they need something, they are more successful because people care back.
As healthcare technology management professionals this is even more important. We are all working for the patient. The better we get along, the quicker the response to the patient. So don’t get bogged down with defenses. Don’t think of each other as enemies. You are all on the same team. And when someone is treating you like an enemy, remember the words of Abraham Lincoln…
“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.”
Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com