As I was wrapping up for the day, I heard a knock on the front door. I assumed it was my neighbor returning something. Almost immediately came another knock and then another.
“OK, not my elderly neighbor,” I thought. He wouldn’t knock so impatiently.
Upon opening the door, I find two tow-headed six-year-olds and a tow-headed four-year-old.
It was the neighbors’ kids—Halloween buckets in hand.
Ryder: “Do you have any candy?”
Me: “You guys know it’s not Halloween yet, right?”
Wyatt: “Yeah, but we’re going trick or treating without our parents this year, so we’re practicing.”
(The conversation ensued from there, with Jack, four years old, piping in with, “Yeah, we’re going without our parents this year.” To which the older boys responded, “You’re too young to go without parents.” This did not go over well with Jack, but I digress…)
My predominant thought was, “What a great leadership lesson.”
I’m not sure about you, but I don’t love not being good at something. Because (you’ve heard me say this before) “OMG, what will people think?”
But these kids were shameless. They were proud of themselves for getting out and practicing their door-knocking skills. It didn’t occur to them to not practice something as important as trick or treating.
When was the last time you saw that in a corporate environment?
Whether trick or treating without parental supervision, building presentation skills, or learning to lead others, etc., there’s no shame in being new at something and spending time practicing.
If you need more motivation to not be perfect at something, check out this post. By nature of its definition, “practice” implies that we’re learning.
What areas in your career or personal life could benefit from unashamed practice?
