Someone made my day yesterday. Maybe my week… month even!

I’ve written about this before, but as I was out for my morning jog today, I reflected on the deeper impact this simple gesture represented, and so I find myself energized and motivated to write about it again in hopes that it inspires others to make someone’s day.

From my point of view, out of the blue yesterday, I received a message from a colleague that I worked with over 5 years ago. I have had no direct contact or communication with this person in that time frame. So it was a shock and pleasant surprise to hear from them. They told me that my leadership style had positively impacted them, and specifically, they appreciated my personal notes that I would handwrite and send to people on occasion to show my appreciation or to recognize them for achievements or contributions they had made to the team. They went on to say that this was a gesture they adopted in their leadership.

Wow! What a great message to receive! Upon receiving this message, I was blown away, of course, and felt great for the appreciation. Upon deeper reflection, though, it meant so much more. Here are my main reflections:

What an impact! To think that a simple gesture of sending a note to someone left such an impact! Wow! Impactful enough that 5 years or so later, they took the time and initiative to return the gesture to me. I understand the impact. Their note was 87 words! But what a great 87 words it was!

Impact is a double-edged sword! Realizing the positive impact we can have as leaders was one thing, but then I realized that impact can be a double-edged sword. If a simple note can leave a lasting impression, what about when we negatively impact someone with our leadership? Ouch! I thought about some of the negative leadership experiences that have impacted me. Oh, I remember them! I remember them very well, and they still cause me to shake my head at best, and in others, have scarred me for life!

Then I remembered situations where my leadership would not have positively impacted someone. I’m not talking about times when a team member is not happy with your feedback or when you’ve had to turn up the heat. Those are a necessary part of leadership. I remembered incidences when I demonstrated poor leadership. Oh, oh, it must take 10 positive impacts to begin to repair 1 negative impact.

So the reflection here is to wield your leadership sword responsibly! Know that it can inspire and be a guide for others, but it can also cut deeply to the bone!

It’s intentionality, not effort! 87 words impacted me greatly! Making a positive and long-lasting impact doesn’t take much time or effort. It does take intentionality, though. This person thought about me, looked me up, and sent a note. Sure, that took effort, no doubt, but the intentionality of doing that meant more to me than anything else.

With the double-edged sword, it also takes intentionality sometimes to control our emotions or reactions so as not to create a negative impact with our leadership!

It’s the gesture that counts! I’ve used the example of sending handwritten notes, but there are many simple ways leaders can positively impact others. Similar to the reflection above, the act or the intention of the gesture makes the impact, not necessarily the specific action itself. So be you! Change it up. Try different methods.

We’re not perfect, but we can keep working on it! I have made my share of leadership mistakes that I’m not proud of. Left people with a negative impact. For that, I’m sorry. However, I tried very hard to learn from those mistakes and missteps. I hope I apologized when I messed up, and I always learned from those mistakes and strove to get better. I’m still a work in progress, though! It doesn’t matter what level of leadership we have reached or how long we have been a leader; we MUST continue to learn to be the best leaders we can be. There are ALWAYS things we can improve.

How are you going to propagate the ripple?

The Ripple Effect: The note I received thanked me for something I did. But it was just the ripple effect. I didn’t invent handwritten notes. I wasn’t the first leader to send them. I received handwritten notes from my previous leaders that impacted me and inspired me to do the same. I have then inspired others to propagate the ripple by picking up this leadership gesture. That’s what it’s all about, the Ripple Effect! How are you going to propagate the ripple?

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