Guest opinion: I hope that’s all it took
By Katie Beary | Director of branch operations, Gallagher
Before we were living in this new COVID-19 world, I was traveling back from Oklahoma City and wanted to grab lunch before my flight. Evaluating food court menus and line wait times, I caught the eye of an observer. She was 7 or 8 and was scanning my heels, dress and suitcase. We smiled.
Turning to go I thought, “I hope that’s all it took.”
What do I hope this young mind learned? Curiosity and confidence to go for it. My own inspirational moment was an outdoor food court in San Diego. I was 8 and my dad told me as we looked at the two-top tables of people, “One day you’ll be power lunching.” That’s all it took.
I’ve been wanting to write about these little moments that can change someone’s motivation or inspire someone’s actions, and I realized that now more so than pre-COVID-19, some of us are in a position to have several of those moments: at home.
Our teams have been working from home for nine weeks and several members have youth in their homes: littles, K-12 and college-age. Some of you can relate! These young minds have become our co-workers and they are listening, observing. Consider your next conversation:
1. Consider the next team call – are you actively listening? Put your phone down, look at the webcam to focus on that Zoom call, take notes. Are you sharing your ideas? Set the example. Albert Einstein said: “Example isn’t another way to teach, it is the only way to teach.”
2. Consider the next one-on-one call – how do you give feedback? Feedback is information, and that mindset makes it easier to hear and apply. Are you helping your team by providing feedback?
3. Consider the next note – is your team lifting you up with notes? Are you lifting them up? My previous work with 4-H taught me about the foundational need for belonging, but it’s not just for youth – it’s also for adults. We want to belong and feel supported.
To those of you who have not worked from home this spring or who have recently returned to work, consider your actions, words and expressions because you’re role modeling 24/7, too. It doesn’t have to happen at home. It happens in airports, food courts, offices, cars, homes and at moments we’re not even aware of, but it happens fast and we must hope that’s all it took.
Katie Beary is a director of branch operations at Gallagher, a risk management, insurance and consulting firm. She is a board member for EveryStep and enjoys volunteering in the community. On summer weekends you can find her on the Central Iowa bike trails. She can be reached via email.
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