I read a story of an elderly woman, Ms Cooks ( not her real name), who despised her neighbour and would from time to time make nasty comments about her. One day standing by her kitchen window, Ms Cooks saw the neighbour’s laundry hanging on the washing line through this window and laughed, as the laundry appeared stained and soiled. 

One weekend Ms Cooks’ daughter came to visit her and upon realizing how dirty mummy’s kitchen window was, she decided to quietly clean it. That same afternoon in her daily routine, Ms Cooks stood by her kitchen window and the neighbour’s laundry happened to be on the line. She immediately picked how clean the neighbour’s laundry was, this time around. 

Ms Cooks didn’t realize that her kitchen window was cleaned, she was convinced that there was something about the neighbour’s washing that has changed. As my friend & mentor, John C Maxwell would say, “we don’t see people as they are, we see them as we are.” 

To shift how you view and perceive others, I invite you from today, to continually clean your window, the lens through which you view the world, so you can see others for who they really are and devise appropriate ways to connect, relate and work well with them. 

Until next week, keep Learning to keep Leading. 

Coach Lorato