Out of the mouths of babes. Telling the truth is hard for big people. But truth telling comes very natural to little ones.
I was in the coldest place on earth last week and had a great visit with two of our favorite locations in the Minneapolis area. I was finishing up and ran to the restroom just before leaving the location. As I rounded the corner I had to walk past a young mom and her little one.
Now picture this, middle aged lady, walking away from a darling little blond 3 year old, thinking what a cute child; and as I enter the restroom stall, I hear this precious little girl say in a very loud voice, “Mama, that lady has a big butt!” I thought the mother was going to have a breakdown. I did have a breakdown…fortunately I was already in the bathroom stall.
Now here’s the deal…I do indeed have a big butt. This child was only speaking the truth. However, this truth came near the end of the 3rd day of a very strict food regimen. In a previous week or month, I think this comment could have been an easy excuse to eat a lot of chocolate or chips. Fortunately that did not happen. As a matter of fact, I may be able to use the episode anytime I think about eating anything that doesn’t help me have a smaller butt!
I bring this up because it made me think about the complete honesty of this situation. I began to wonder what if a 3 year old was watching any of us work. What would he or she say about our performance? In sales, service, or leadership I’m sure we are all flawed in some way. What would happen if someone, in a very loud voice, pointed out those flaws? Is there anything so obvious about the way you “show up” that a 3 year old could call you out on your performance? You know what I’m talking about. There’s that tiny voice in your head that says, “if only I could, or maybe I should, or if they really knew…”
It’s a crazy thing to think of probably. However, it was just so real. For me there was nothing to do other than to simply feel the remorse of the honest to God truth and that fortunately I can do something about it (my bb). I think that knowledge is probably the lesson. Whatever we do there’s probably a way to do it better. None of your flaws my stick out as much as my obvious “big butt”…but what if they did. What if those flaws are in the way of you being as awesome as you can be? Are you willing to do something about it?
Again, I’ll ask…if a 3 year old could call you out on the areas you need to work on, what would those areas be? If you are really brave, you might put those flaws out on our blog and make a commitment to work on them. If you are more private, send me an email. If you want help, call me and let us see what we can do together.
PS-my butt is smaller this week than last…I had a great weight loss this last month!
