Where’s Your Seat?

If you want to matter… everyone needs to matter…. anyone can make a difference!

If you truly want to be a leader who influences others in a positive way, then you should treat everyone you come in contact with as though they are the most important person in the world. And to do that you need be fully present, in the moment, and truly listen to what is being said. It starts with asking yourself, “do I really value other people.” If the answer is yes, then when others are talking to you, you’ll drop everything else and be fully engaged in the conversation.

Have you recently encountered a person who didn’t seem engaged? Perhaps he or she seemed wrapped up in their own private world, leaving you with the impression that you weren’t important enough. Most of us don’t like being ignored when we try to engage with someone. Often, when we press someone who is ignoring us, they might say, “I was thinking about something else, not really paying much attention, sorry about that.”

Funny thing about that though, when people are so absorbed in their own world and fail to recognize those around them, they are having a far more negative impact than they realize.

What about the times where you are in a conversation with someone, and things are getting really interesting (or at least you think they are), and the person you are speaking with has their mobile phone buzz with a text message. And just as quickly as they hear the buzzer, they are absorbed in reading the text and no longer paying attention to you or what you are saying —- so much for the interesting conversation.

The fact is, the positive or negative impact we have on each person we engage today is based on a choice we make. That choice is…

Do we really care about other people?

Does everyone really matter?

If they do, then when we are talking to someone, or we are in a meeting listening to someone else speak, we are fully present, completely engaged and listening to what is being said, not thinking about something else, not checking our e-mails, not texting on our mobile phones.