Not too long ago I heard a short, but very powerful anecdote I would like to share.
A young couple, Lisa and John, moved into a new neighborhood. One morning while they were eating breakfast, Lisa looked out the window and watched her next-door neighbor hanging out her wash.
“That laundry’s not clean!” Lisa exclaimed. “Our neighbor doesn’t know how to get clothes clean!”
John looked on but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, Lisa would make the same comments.
A few weeks later Lisa was surprised to glance out her window and see a nice, clean wash hanging in her neighbor’s yard. She said to her husband, “Look, John—she’s finally learned how to wash correctly! I wonder how she did it.”
John replied, “Well, dear, I have the answer for you. You’ll be interested to know that I got up early this morning and washed our windows!” Originally shared by Thomas S. Monson October, 2010.
Do you have dirty windows? One of the fastest ways for a leader to lose respect and quickly lessen trust is to to be negative, critical or complain incessantly about others. And this is never more true then when the one being negative, critical and complaining has a big fat vault of imperfections, inconsistancies and failings. Which of us doesn't have dirty windows? The best leaders recognize this and spend more time cleaning than continually pointing out that others don't clean enough.
Sometimes our lens of perspective needs a little cleaning. Perhaps a change in focus. Wise leaders understand this. It is human nature to find fault in others weaknesses and ideas. But smart leaders have more discipline then that. They understand that we all have weaknesses and look to help, not complain.
"If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it." ~Anthony J. D'Angelo
What do you do when others are negative, critical and complain incessantly? What helps you refrain from being negative, critical and complaining? Please comment below.
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Mike Rogers
