Treat with Decency

"It is a good idea to be ambitious, to have goals, to want to be good at what you do, but it is a terrible mistake to let drive and ambition get in the way of treating people with kindness and decency." -Unknown

Some times it surprises me that one would ever have to even write about this topic. What I am referring to is the mere idea of just being decent when dealing with other people.

Recently an administrative person was downsized at my office. I really hate that term to begin with. That term and others such as "excess reduction", "rightsizing", "delayering", "smartsizing", "redeployment", "workforce reduction", "workforce optimization", "simplification", "force shaping", "recussion", and "reduction in force" are all indirect terms for being told your services are no longer needed.

This person wasn't laid off for any bad reason. She was simply caught in the numbers game of needed employees. So after 20 some years of employment, she was gone, asked to fill a box and leave the building.

The act of someone getting laid off happens almost everyday for a wide variety of reasons. It is nothing new and it will be something that goes on well beyond my short article. What can change is how we lay off people. This lady was well respected by co-workers and was a very loyal employee in all of her years. But she was treated poorly and without much respect. The 'corporate policy guidelines' allowed for a very indecent removal.

I don't wish to complain about this particular circumstance. It is unfortunate and the way it was handled reflects poorly on a company I work for and admire. What I am here to say to you and everyone else that can hear me, "just be decent in how you treat others."

It is a pretty simple idea to live by. It can make a world of difference not only for the other person, but for you as well. It reflects poorly on you when you treat people badly. It reflects poorly, plain and simple.

We all have to learn and teach ourselves this idea. I try to be decent to all those I come in contact with. It doesn't always work out that way and I try to do better the next time.

So can you, in every encounter, every situation, every day; treat others with decency. You know you would want the same in return.