The value in people

Hello High Heelers

I went shopping with Natalie Maroun the other day. Yes I did! How jealous are you my High Heelers? We went shopping for Christmas wrapping for client gifts. I know – not that exciting (or so one would think!) It was quite an adventure. Natalie was pulling ribbons and wrapping and boxes and papers, and flowers and towers... and. Breathe in... I’m losing the plot here I think! We went down every aisle and gave it the full attention it deserved.

Our adventure was in aid of making our clients feel special – because they are, because they pay our salaries and allow us to exercise our talents (and live our hedgehogs). Natalie is very careful about making valuable people know that they are special. She throws farewell parties for great colleagues, she rewards her staff in every way possible and she is highly generous towards hard workers and towards those who live our company values.

You see, the way Natalie treats her gifts and handbags is indicative of the way she treats her people. At home, she wraps her valuable bags up in their cover, she carefully packs them on top of each other, she uses a different one every day and she sends them for fixing as soon as they break. She does the same (and more) for her people. Valuable things and beings must be looked after so that they last.

So let me challenge you all a little here – so many of us will look after that beautiful pair of shoes we spent half our salary on (naughty naughty) and then we hiss at the boyfriend when he remarks that the money would have been better spent elsewhere. Don’t worry – I’m not suggesting you don’t buy the shoes! I’m just suggesting that perhaps you should treat people (as in the boyfriend) with the correct measure of value, since you treat everything else valuable in your life so well. People hold the ultimate value. You should be treating them best!

“People were made to be loved and things were made to be used. There is confusion in the world because people are being used and things are being loved.” (Anonymous)

The truth is: the shoes, the bags, the house, the car... all of that is replaceable (I promise it is!) But a great friend, an honest partner and a devoted family is to be added to, not diminished. So wrap them up. Don’t use them. Care for them. Clean their hearts. Pack them up and acquire as many of them as you can. Let them know they’re valuable through your words and your actions.

This week let me encourage you to really find the value in everyone you meet. Sometimes you need to look a little deeper – but it’s there. Let’s be High Heelers that see greater value in people than in anything else. Let’s walk tall.

Cheers,
Jo

(Since everyone’s away on leave for the next couple of weeks – including Natalie Maroun – I’ll only be blogging again from the second week of January. Until then, have a wonderful holiday season! You’re welcome to follow me on Twitter, under High_Heeler, Joanne Sharpe).