Courtesy, kindness and the man on the street

The other day I witnessed one of the best examples of how to engage and move on with courtesy and kindness intact.

My colleague, Paul Fulham, and I were walking to lunch. Along the sidewalk, we were approached by a young man with a message who wanted to engage us in conversation.

Now, in another scenario, most people would have brushed the young man off with a simple "not interested" or ignored him completely. Not Paul. He handled it a bit more gracefully.

We continued to walk to the restaurant as the young man asked his questions. Paul answered each one as we walked, directly. When he got to the last one, Paul answered diplomatically, "well, I'm not comfortable praying with you as I don't know you, and my relationship is with God." With that the young man took his leave of us.

The point is that nearly every situation can be dealt with with class and civil conduct. Even those on the street deserve our courtesy. Quite honestly, we don't know who is watching. And more importantly, we need to be true to ourselves--and our personal brand.

Relentless