After a recent blog I wrote talking about the importance of asking for help (You Are Never Too Smart to Be Confused! Ask for Help) quoting Bill Gates commencement speech, I ended up doing something rather painful to my shoulder. The result is I can’t lift my right arm very high, nor put my wheelie bag in the overhead bin on planes because of this. And I travel a great deal for work.
So, as I was boarding a plane recently, with great trepidation I asked a man who had just sat down two rows in front of me if he would mind putting my suitcase in the overhead compartment. His face lit up and he gladly took care of it, and reminded me he’d do it when I got off the plane as well. This same scenario was duplicated several times. I asked, and whoever I asked became friendly, cooperative and sometimes it seemed as if there was almost a personality shift.
Finally on a flight a couple of days ago a woman occupied the middle seat. She was young and listening to something on her headset so I ignored her until I realized I still needed help getting my bag down, and so I asked if she could help me. What I learned in the process was that she was a social worker, working with homeless in San Francisco, and she was more than happy to accommodate my need.
Here’s what I’ve learned. People seem to have a subconscious vested interest in helping. Naturally not everyone will support this attitude, but I genuinely discovered my need for help allowed people to do something caring and it impacted them in positive ways. While I’m not suggesting you fake an injury or purposefully find something just to get people to help, look at how this awareness can be used when you’re inspiring people to lead, manage and handle an issue. Just a small amount of dialogue with a stranger can significantly alter the way we see others, and people need a reason to be kind, thoughtful, and go out of their way to assist. Find ways to give them that reason and I think you’ll be amazed at the results.
