Caring Counts

In his book, "The Seven Secrets of Successful Coaching" author Greg Dale, Ph.D. explains that successful coaches care about the athletes they coach. More importantly, the students (players) know the coach cares about them.

At our annual summer retreat, administrators were asked to talk about the most influential person in their lives to this point. They were asked to share who the influential person is and why they were impacted by that person. Some talked about a parent, others talked about a teacher or a coach, while others talked about a mentor or co-worker. The common thread between all the stories - our administrators knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the influential person in their life cared deeply about them.

The beauty about caring is simple - anyone can do it. Caring doesn't require a Ph.D. or five years of previous successful experience. Demonstrating that you care can be achieved by asking someone how they are doing and actually being interested in hearing the answer. It can be shown by taking the time to say thank you, or job well done, or a quick phone call or text to say hi, I'm thinking about you. Perhaps the simplest and most profound way we can demonstrate that we care about someone else is by taking the time to just listen to them.

I once heard Lou Holtz say, "they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." As educators, these are powerful words.

Each of us has the power to be the most influential person for somebody today. Take the time to make a difference.