The Thinker and the Thank-er

“Think all you speak, but speak not all you think.”

~ unknown 

I had a unique experience a couple of days ago. I don't want to call anyone out in our community but I was having some work done on my wife's car. On all of our cars we have our "Chamber license plates" that have the logo and our tag line "Now This Is Living". As I pulled her car into the bay the mechanic took one look at the tag and read it out loud, "Jones County, Now This Is Living?!" He said, "Who told you that lie?"

I was taken aback and was left almost speechless (but you know me and that doesn't happen often). I quickly told him who I was, what I did and started unloading on him all the great assets we have in our community and why anyone should be thrilled to live in Jones County. I doubt that I changed his mind, but perhaps the next time he gets ready to question our community to a customer he will think about our encounter.

This confrontation reminded me of a message given by a motivational speaker friend of mind that I recently got the chance to hear. I can't remember exactly what he was presenting on that day but the quote that caught me was when he was talking about teamwork, he was using a scenario to address that each member on a team is important and valuable to the success of the entire team. He said, "It's kind of like the rooster taking credit for the dawn". The rooster did his job and did it well, but it wasn't his crowing that caused the sun to rise. It was because the sun rose that he was able to do his job.

My friend went on to use this metaphor to display that as leaders we often look at the overall success or failure of the team and either rejoice or revamp. Sometimes what we should be doing is looking at those opportunities, those people, and those situations that allow us to do our jobs. We should be thankful for those moments of change throughout our day that allows us to be successful in our mission.

As leaders in our community, our organizations and our homes often times we THINK we know what we should be doing and we THINK about ways to make our presentations and our dealings better. Often times what we forget to do is take the time to THANK those around us. Take time to THANK each member on our team for their part in the organization’s success. Perhaps we should THANK more than we THINK.

I am very thankful for each opportunity we have to share the benefits of living in South Mississippi and in Jones County. I am thankful for chances to tell of the great successes and heritage in Jones County. I am even thankful when people question us about why they should be members of the Chamber. All of these things help me remember why I love to do this job.

One final charge of instruction my friend left me with during his speech was this, "If all else fails, build a bridge and get over it!"

Larkin