People Matter

People Matter! Teach Your Kids To Act That Way

People Matter. People are important. Connection is important. Remembering who people are, is important.

I want to teach my kids this lesson early.

When we are introduced to someone new, for me, the struggle is on. I am SO TERRIBLE with names and faces. Sometimes, it's not only that I don’t remember someone’s name, it's that I don’t remember them at all. My husband will ask me if I remember a conversation or “that time we talked with that person” and I will say, “No, I don’t!” I genuinely forget these moments. The worst part is that it has nothing to do with the person that I am talking to and everything to do with the fact that I am walking around Earth completely distracted and checked out. I am so preoccupied with my own thoughts that my body is apparently on autopilot. It’s having conversations for me and responding for me and THAT is scary!

I want to show my kids a different way.

Not only do I want my kids to remember more of their life than I do but I want them to understand how important the people around them really are. People matter in all aspects of our lives. People matter in our personal lives, our work lives, our love lives, our social lives, our family lives, and all other areas of our being.

And do you know who understands our need for one another more than most?

Leaders.

That my friends, is what we trying to raise leaders.

A leader is someone who can take charge when they need to, but a good leader can stand back and let someone else take the reins when the situation calls for it.

A leader is someone who can take charge, but a good leader is someone who is willing to serve.

A leader is someone who is bold and outgoing and will come right up to you, look you in the eye, and shake your hand. But a good leader will ask your name, listen, make a note of it, and remember your name and face the next time they see you.

A leader will ask how your day is going, start a conversation, and chat about business. A good leader will remember what was said in the conversation because they were listening.

A leader will take your contact information and add it to their database. A good leader will add you to their database and stay in touch with you from then on.

One of the articles that I read on this subject while I was researching for this newsletter said it really well. It said that “creating a fabric of personal contacts who will provide support, feedback, insight, resources, and information - is simultaneously one of the most self-evident and one of the most dreaded developmental challenges that aspiring leaders must address.”

Here’s the thing - what if it wasn’t dreaded at all by our little leaders? What if it was natural? A skill they were taught when they were young. What if they already knew how to remember people’s faces and names? What if they were in the habit of writing down people's names that they met? Think about THAT database of friends and colleagues for just a second! Whoa!

Even if you’re not trying to raise a CEO here, taking time to talk to your kids about how important the people they know and meet are, is a really great thing to do. They need to know that looking people in the eye, giving them a firm handshake, speaking up, and speaking to them with kindness and respect will take them far in life. They need to know that people’s names and faces matter and they should make the effort to remember that person.

As I reread through this article I can’t help wondering is this really feasible. Can we really teach little ones these skills? Or is this just another letter of information that won’t be used? Well, I don’t know. That is up to you and me! I do know one thing. There is a lot of ‘stuff’ out there for our kids to learn. They consume information every day and learn new things every day. My hope is that they are learning more good things from me than they are learning bad things from the world around them. We, as Wealthy Kids Academy parents, may not be teaching everything like everyone else is. We may not teach the same things and we may take a few more minutes to teach our kids some ‘extra’ skills. But to me, that is a good thing and I know that you and I will be proud of the leaders that we are raising!

Keep warm friends!

Amanda