E-couragement: The Hardest Word

Sometimes I choose my blog topic, other times, it chooses me. This particular blog picked me. It began as a nudge driving along Interstate 40 on my way to visit a client. While enjoying the solitude and minding my own business an Elton John song entered my head. I began humming the lyrics to “sorry seems to be the hardest word.” Then the lesson behind this blog emerged. Yes, sorry can be a difficult word, yet experience has taught me that there is another word, which for many people is truly the hardest word of all.

If Sir Elton John is incorrect and sorry isn’t the hardest word, then what is? It’s a word I grew up fearing more than any other. As a male, I was taught that this word represented weakness, incompetence, and lack of confidence. Here it is: HELP. As in, “will you HELP me?” For the first thirty five years of my life I eluded this word as if it were the fabled Jersey Devil. Even as life seemed to crumble around me, I refused to turn to it. Fortunately, over that last decade it has slowly become my trusted confidant.

The year 2012 has been a teacher for me. While I’ve learned to ask for HELP in my personal life I’ve been resistant to it professionally. Apparently I’ve preferred the John Wayne leadership model: get it all done myself. On Monday July 2 it was clear, all that has changed. I was sitting in the conference room at G-Force Marketing looking at my professional HELP team. We were gathered to conduct our EXTRAordinary! Inc. yearly strategy session. I felt a sense of relief and gratitude to have this group of experts supporting and encouraging me. What a gift to have people like Jerome Daley, Mitch Miles, Rod Clayton, Stephanie Reeser, and Elaine Penn partner with me. They are people I rely on—people I trust. They’re intelligent, creative, and thoughtful…and they’ve willingly accepted my invitation to HELP.

Can an engaging leader ask for and receive HELP? Because of the people pictured here, I’ve discovered the answer to be a resounding YES. I no longer believe that asking for help represents weakness, incompetence, or lack of confidence. I now know that a leader who is willing to ask for HELP is actually strong, skilled, and courageous. Thanks for your HELP team. I am truly grateful for you.

Leave your comment: Where in your life have you had the courage to ask for help? What was the outcome?