Will They Tell You When They’re Scared?

Around 2:30am last Friday I felt a gentle tap on my hand while I was sleeping. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a small silhouette with some crazy hair in the darkness. My three-year-old daughter leaned over and whispered, “Daddy, I’m scared. Will you sleep with me?”  Who could resist that? 

I rolled out of bed, grabbed her little hand, and we walked to her room. (I was silently cheering because I’ve been trying to make her Daddy’s girl.)

When we got comfortable she said, “Thanks Daddy. The ice monster was gonna get Elsa.”  She loves Frozen and the animated stories her brothers were telling at dinner obviously stuck in her head. I gave her a kiss and said, “Thank you for telling Daddy you were afraid. That was very brave of you.”  We both went back to bed happy and got a great night's sleep.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had the kind of relationship with your community that they told you when they’re scared? Wouldn’t you love to know that your leaders would listen first to understand and then thank you for being brave?

What great things would happen as a result? Would you get more ideas? Build more trust? Would you learn more about your community and what they were really thinking?      

What do you think that would do for the strength of your culture? 

Like most things in life – the seesaw must be balanced. Trust is built in a special way when both sides contribute. Wouldn’t you agree that sometimes we’re scared and sometimes we simply need to listen? 

It takes real courage to be brave.

Want to learn more about building Trust with Great Cultures?