During a recent trip to the pool with my three daughters, I noticed something. When I'm with my girls, there is one phrase that I hear more than any other.
"Watch me! Watch me! Watch me! Did you see me? Daddy, watch me! Daddy! Did you see? Watch me!"
They're often saying it all at the same time and doing different things in different places. Sometimes it bothers me. I want to say "I am watching. I did see. Quiet down!"
But then I realize there is an important lesson here. A lesson that will make us better parents, better husbands and wives, better leaders.
The lesson is this . . . everyone wants to be the focus of someone's attention. Everyone wants to be seen, to be recognized, to be acknowledged, to be noticed. Whether we say it out loud or not, we all want the same thing. We want our boss to watch us doing a good job. We want our spouse to watch us helping out. We want our kids to watch us put them first.
If we want to be effective leaders, if we want to build positive and enduring relationships, we need to be watching, acknowledging, noticing and recognizing other people all the time.
When we watch, when we focus, when we pay attention, we send a powerful message to the other person. We are telling them that no one is more important at that moment, nothing is more worthy of our attention. We are telling them that they are valuable, important and worthwhile.
"Watch me!" It might not seem like much, but there isn't anything more valuable you can do for the people in your life.
