What would happen to your company if you disciplined yourself to make certain every interaction you have with another person is fair and loving?

Now, this can happen to a person of any beliefs, but this example was given by Shane Farmer of Willow Creek Church in his May 1, 2011 sermon (27:19 minutes into it) about a businessman who supervised other people: A man decided he wanted to demonstrate his faith in a very tangible way at work.

He decided it was never appropriate for him to have an interaction at work which could be described as unloving or unfair. He began to apply these two lenses to all of his interactions: Was it fair and was it loving? This change in his behavior has absolutely revolutionized the culture of the environment that he works in. He is so transparent in his approach that his people know they can question any of his words or actions if they feel he has not been fair or loving. Now there is a deep sense of meaning and purpose in their workplace.

In the book, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, Patrick Lencioni tried to come up with one thing his main character could do that really mattered to his firm. Lencioni instead chose four things, and they are very good actions to take.

However, in the previous example we discover a simple system for employee engagement that is intentional and foundational to servant leadership... basically if we do this one thing well (being loving and fair) it can transform our company culture and enable us to have a meaningful legacy.

Think about it. Consider the questions below to dive into this opportunity a bit deeper.

MEETING IDEAS

Whether you do this on your own or with a group, I strongly encourage you to explore this idea of making sure each interaction with another person is fair and loving.

This is a great opportunity for you to pilot a new behavior (for at least a week) to see whether you can develop this skill and evaluate its impact on your workplace. Here are some questions to consider. Be totally honest.

1. How many times each day do you interact with someone else in a way that is not fair and loving?
2. Identify three times in the past week when someone at work has not been fair and loving to you. List how that made you feel and what happened as a result of their behavior (and your response to it).
3. Define in-writing what it means to be appropriately "loving" in your workplace.
4. List three people to whom you want to make an extra effort to demonstrate professionally fair and loving behavior during your pilot of developing this new skill.
5. Complete the writing of this goal. Write it and post it where you will see it constantly through your workday, even if that means it pops up as a reminder from Outlook or on your cell phone.
"I will be professionally fair and loving in all my interactions and communications with others in our workplace through (date)."
Remember: Pilot this behavior for a week so you can really focus hard on doing it well for a short period of time. If you feel that it is beneficial, then extend your pilot to one month and then determine how to apply this new skill from that point forward.