If you’ve been reading the Building Bridges Leadership blog for a while, you may remember the Good News Jam series we started in April 2020, at the early height of the Covid pandemic (inspired by John Krasinski’s own pandemic YouTube series, Some Good News). These virtual happy hours had a simple design: for each person to be able to share some piece of good news – a success, a joy, a kindness, a gift – and for someone else to say some words of acknowledgement and celebration in response. We were looking for light in the darkness, no matter how small.
Over a year ago a good friend of mine – and a regular participant in Good News Jams – suggested I might like the podcast My Unsung Hero, from Hidden Brain Media. Upon listening, I immediately understood why. In these 4-minute episodes, someone shares a story of a time in their life when someone said or did something for them that had a lasting impact on their life. “One person, one moment,” as the host, Shankar Vedantam, says each week. Sometimes these are literally life-changing (or life-saving) moments, and other times they are a simple balm in a difficult moment, that has inspired the recipient to try to act similarly for others. In the majority of cases, the “unsung hero” was a stranger, and in almost all cases, they did not continue to be part of the recipient’s life – most times, the storyteller doesn’t even know their names.
The more I’ve listened to this podcast, the more I’ve come to believe that we each have unsung heroes in our own lives, some of which are the big life-changing ones, but the majority of which are the more simple everyday life-giving ones.
As we approach the end of the year – a year which has been particularly challenging and heartbreaking for many of us – this might be a good time to reflect on who those unsung heroes have been this year, and wherever possible, let them know the difference they’ve made in your life. Perhaps someone at work went out of their way to help you understand a change that was happening, or made a difference to you on a day where you were feeling despondent or behind. Perhaps someone has made you smile just when you needed it, or helped you think through a situation differently which opened some new doors. Some of your unsung heroes might be outside the workplace, of course!
This Week’s Tips:
- Reflect on who has made a difference for you this year. Take some time to let them know. This might come in the form of an email, a handwritten note, a phone call, a text, or an in-person stop-in. If your budget allows, consider buying them something small, or supporting something of theirs as a way to thank them for the impact they had on you.
- If your unsung hero is a stranger, or someone you have no way of contacting, share the story with others whenever it feels natural to do so – sharing the impact helps it to spread further, and inspire others also.
- See how you can pay forward the kindness shown to you. Think about the behavior your unsung heroes displayed, and consider how you might do the same for other people in moments where they might be struggling.
Try this out this week, and let us know how it goes. And if you’d like to share any stories of your unsung heroes with us, we’d love to hear them!
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