Being There – Giving Others Our Full Attention

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here, and that’s partly due to my efforts to be there. Being there is my New Year Resolution that I got a head start on in December when I traveled back to the Midwest to see clients and family.

In a world filled with distractions at our fingertips, including email, Facebook, Twitter, games, books, and whatever else comes in the form of an app, we have developed a terrible habit of not being where we are. Here’s what I mean by that: you can be in a meeting without actually “being in” the meeting. Gracing our counterparts with our physical presence doesn’t cut it. We need to actually be there and remain engaged in order to contribute at a level reflective of our full potential. Put yourself on the other side for a minute: if you’re running a meeting, who’s more valuable? Someone fully engaged, or someone who mentally checked out before you were halfway through the agenda?

The same goes for everything else we do in life. When we’re with loved ones on a Wednesday, we shouldn’t be thinking about work or whether or not we set the DVR. Nor should we spend time on personal matters at work: if we devote ourselves to our responsibilities during the hours we’re paid to work, we should be able to walk away from it during the hours we’re not. The same goes for working out- anyone that spends two hours at the gym and spends one of those hours on their phone is wasting their time.

If we can put our distractions aside, we can be better leaders and employees, better friends, and, well, better anythings. So let me encourage you to “be there” in 2014, wherever “there” is.