Have you had this experience? Someone asked me, “How are you?” Just when I was about to answer how I was doing, that person already started walking away or turned their heads or looked down at their phones. At first, I thought maybe that person just remembered something or the phone just buzzed them. Turns out, that was not a 1-time occurrence. I was quite disappointed. I thought, why bother asking how I am if you don’t care about my answer?
As Simon Sinek said, “Leadership is not about being in charge, it’s about taking care of those in our charge.” In order to take care of people, we need to get to know them, care for them, and help them if they need help.
And in order to help others, we need to slow down to actually see people. We need to do more than just notice and acknowledge them. We need to be fully present so that we can truly see them. If we don’t take the time to look at others, we’ll never know how to be sensitive to their needs.
There are people all around us who need our encouragement.
If you were to take a cross-country trip, you would have several options for travel. A plane would get you there the fastest, but you wouldn’t see much of the country. You could take a train or even a car, and both would give you opportunities to see more than by flying. If you really wanted to take in as much as possible, you’d walk.
The slower you go, the more you see.
Looking out for others is a choice you need to make. It won’t happen automatically. It’s not always easy to see the needs of other people. Sometimes we are too focused on our own problems to see when others are hurting. At times, we lack awareness because our schedule is overloaded. But you can’t help someone with their burden if you don’t see it.
If you care, you’ll be aware. So, slow down and be fully present!