While waiting for my flight home after a three-day conference and coaching engagement in Dallas, I stopped at a hotel stand-up desk to catch up on work. I saw a hotel housekeeper walk by with a cart with an attached wastebasket. As I stepped away from my desk to place an empty bottle in the wastebasket, taking a slightly different path than I had when I arrived, I missed a step down and fell onto the marble floor.

I was fine, or so I thought in the moment.

The hotel housekeeper and another individual walking by wanted to make sure I was okay. They were genuinely concerned and helpful. I stood right up and told them I was fine. The housekeeper, however, would not let it go – in the best possible way. She was truly concerned. She showed me a scar from a fall she’d had in that very hotel. Despite the language barrier between us, her genuine concern, her refusal to simply walk away, felt warm, caring, and real.

I had just come from a three-day conference and coaching engagement filled with rising stars; mid-level leaders from large companies. We spent a great deal of time on the importance of recognition, communication, gratitude and getting to know what matters to the people around us.

That small moment of care from a stranger reinforced the clearest takeaway from the entire three-day experience.

We are all human.

We all matter.

We all need to know that there are people around us – not only in our personal lives, but in our professional lives – who have our backs.

A few questions to sit with:

• How do you show genuine interest in the people you work with?
• What do you experience from your leader, your team, your direct reports?
• What is one thing you want to do more of – or differently – after reading this?

Curious about how you show up for others – and how they experience you? Let’s connect.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou