Back in 1997, while in the Navy stationed at Naval Dental Center, Northwest in Bremerton, WA, we went through a change of command. Our new CO Captain John Berude, in his first speech, gave his philosophy in one statement: “You need to care.”
Years later, I still remember that speech. The question to wrestle with this week is: Who cares?
A few years ago when we were living on the East Coast there was a record snowstorm that dumped nearly 30 inches of snow in a 24 hour period. The first clear morning, we went out for a walk since our cul-de-sac was completely blocked with snow. When we got down the the feeder road in our neighborhood, only a few vehicles were moving – just 4x4s. As we walked around the block, we moved out of the road as a silver SUV passed. It was the newspaper man on his rounds delivering the Sunday Washington Post.
Why did this intrigue me?
Of all the things people probably didn’t need, it was The Washington Post. We quit subscribing since it was so thin on material and we got our news up-to-the-moment on the Internet. Considering the amount of snow on the ground, most people were busy trying to dig out and get prepped for the Super Bowl game which was happening that day. I wouldn’t think anybody would have missed the Sunday Post. It would have been pretty easy for this guy to just bail on his rounds and stay home.
Yet, he didn’t. He cared.
Imagine what would happen if everybody cared?
- Stores would open up right on time because employees would be checking in early to make sure they were ready when the doors opened.
- Customer service standards would skyrocket as people would do just a little bit more to win over new customers and dazzle the old ones.
- Companies and Federal agencies would boom with productivity because people would do more than just “look busy” when the boss came around.
- Organizations would win more business because they’d demonstrate their willingness to go full speed in getting the job done.
- I’m sure the newspaper subscribers in my old neighborhood have long forgot about this, but it still sticks in my mind.
Who cares?
I think we all should. I’m thinking of a list of things I’ll do this week to show I care. I hope you’ll do the same