This morning I remembered the advice I received from a leadership coach on how best to succeed in any setting. “Be helpful,” she said.
I think about those words so many times. In any situation, we can ask, “How can I help? What does it look like to be helpful here?”
I thought about this list:
Helpful people encourage. Helpful people add value to discussions. Helpful people do tasks others don’t want to do. Helpful people take the lowest place and serve. Helpful people offer their resources of time, money, or skill. Helpful people hold open doors, help carry loads, and offer to ease physical burdens. Helpful people run errands for others or offer to drive people where they need to go. Helpful people speak words of wisdom from scripture. Helpful people spread good cheer. Helpful people know how to connect people to the resources they need. Helpful people don’t drain the energy from others. Helpful people don’t demand their own way. Helpful people put themselves in other people’s shoes and consider what they might need.
We might ask questions like, “What do I have that I can give here? What does this person most need that I’m uniquely equipped to provide?”
I remember the first time I read Proverbs 3:27-28: Whenever you are able, do good to people who need help. If you have what your neighbor asks for, don’t say, “Come back later. I will give it to you tomorrow.”
Do good! Help others. It’s a simple and beautiful way to live today.