Honoring Paul Dugan on KOLO Channel 8 Television yesterday was quite an honor for me, since Paul is an amazing individual who, during his tenure as Washoe County Superintendent, inspired educators and impacted many, many children in the area as well. He was my first choice as recipient of the Super Hero award because of his outstanding contributions, caring and commitment.
Today I was also interviewed on Channel 8 TV discussing what my hopes are for this brand new Super Hero campaign. What I would love to see happen is an epidemic of gratitude and appreciation. My intention for starting this campaign to nominate Super Heroes (remember every nominee gets a Super Hero button to wear and pass on, and every winner a copy of my book) is to create a mindset of awareness for all those people who go out of their way to make a difference in the world, whether their contributions are big or little. If we wait to say thank you or show appreciation when a job is brilliantly done, or the task if very important, we may have very few opportunities. When we say “Thank you, you’re my Super Hero today” for the smallest things, we change the climate and culture without really trying.
Let me give you an example. Two weeks ago I flew an airline that will remain nameless for obvious reasons. The one person behind the ticket counter was dismally slow, and seemed totally oblivious and uncaring. The line was growing, the time I had to get my bag checked was shrinking, and you could see everyone was getting nervous and cranky. I’m sharing exasperated looks with fellow travelers when finally the airline employee comes up next to me and the man beside me, who couldn’t have been a day over 20. She took care of his bag and he then asked her if she was permitted to take a tip. As startled as she appeared to be, she responded that she could not accept tips. He seemed really surprised he couldn’t tip her, and told her it seemed unfair since she was working so hard.
Now keep in mind this is the same woman I’m getting ready to say something rather unkind to in about a minute. All of a sudden she’s grinning ear to ear, and when she gets to me I can’t help but smile back, she thanks me for my patience, and everything goes smoothly. All it took was one rather young and very smart person to shift the environment from one of anxiety to one of gratitude and appreciation.
So in keeping with that mindset, I’d love to hear from all of you regarding who you feel would be a wonderful candidate for a Super Hero award. All nominations are posted on the site for the world to see, and all nominees get that fun button to wear around and pass on as a way of saying thank you. And of course 11 winners will receive a copy of the book.
Start thinking, start writing, and please pass on your nominations!
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