Here’s One Thing You Can Do About It.
The world feels like it’s moving faster and becoming more divided than it has in a long time. And sometimes it can feel like there isn’t much any one of us can do about it.
But I think there is one simple thing we can do. It comes from a Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who said:
“Treasure the person right in front of you.”
The idea is that peace and compassion begin in the present moment with the person right in front of you.
LEADERSHIP
In leadership, we spend a lot of time thinking about strategy, results, timelines, and the next decision that needs to be made, which are important. But our attention is often pulled toward the future or toward solving the next problem. Meanwhile, the person sitting across from us in a meeting, walking into our office, or speaking up on a call can easily become just another item in the flow of the day.
But the present moment, that corny little “gift,” holds power. It’s where engagement, trust, and productivity live.
When a leader truly connects with the person in front of them, it shows.
As kids, we want the adults around us to see us.
“Look mom! Are you watching?!”
And as adults, we secretly want the same thing. We want to be noticed. We want people to care. We want to be listened to.
Being “treasured” brings our guard down.
We listen more closely instead of preparing our next response. We become curious rather than defensive. We pause long enough to understand what the other person is trying to say, not just what we assume is being said.
And those behaviors and conversations are where culture is built.
Many of the conflicts we experience on teams, and a good portion of the ones in the world, aren’t actually about the surface issue. They come from people feeling dismissed, misunderstood, or unseen. When someone feels genuinely valued in a moment, even during disagreement, it lowers the temperature of the interaction and opens the door for better thinking.
Treasuring someone doesn’t mean you agree with them. It doesn’t mean you lower expectations or avoid tough conversations. It simply means you recognize that the person in front of you deserves your attention, respect, and presence.
And that kind of presence is rare.
Strong leaders understand that every interaction sends a signal. Are people interruptions, or are they the work? Are conversations something to get through, or something to learn from?
When we treasure the person right in front of us, we build trust one interaction at a time. Over days and weeks, those moments compound, creating a larger and larger ripple effect. They shape how safe people feel sharing ideas, how willing they are to speak up, and how much ownership they take for the work.
Culture isn’t built in grand gestures. It’s built in small moments of attention.
And sometimes leadership is as simple, and as difficult, as giving the person in front of you the respect of your full presence.
This week my challenge to you, even if you snuck away for spring break with your family, is to treasure the people around you. Maybe even a few strangers along the way. At the gas station, in restaurants, running errands. People are just waiting to be treasured.
LIFE
The idea of “treasuring the person right in front of you” isn’t just a leadership tool. It’s a life one too.
The other day I caught myself doing something I’m guessing many of us do. Someone was talking to me while I was half listening and half thinking about the next thing on my list. Dinner, schedules, emails, travel, what needed to get done tomorrow.
And then I realized the person talking to me was my kid.
It made me pause.
Kids are funny that way. They don’t always say the most important thing first. They wander into a story, circle around it, and eventually land somewhere that matters to them. But if we’re distracted, we miss it.
Adults aren’t that different.
Most people don’t walk up and say, “I’m feeling overwhelmed,” or “I’m proud of what I did today,” or “I could really use someone to notice me right now.” Those things show up in pieces of conversation, side comments, or small stories that are easy to brush past if we’re not paying attention.
Life is full of those small moments.
A quick conversation at the kitchen counter.
A story from a coworker.
A text from a friend.
A question from a kid that could have been answered in two seconds but turns into a ten minute conversation.
None of them feel like the big moments at the time.
But when you look back, they’re often the ones that mattered.
So this week, I’m trying something simple. Slow down long enough to notice the person right in front of me.
Because leadership may shape culture at work.
But attention shapes the relationships that make up the rest of our lives.
Have Good Ripple Effect,
Lisa