I was at an Amway opportunity meeting. The presenter had just explained the Amway Sales and Marketing Plan. After the plan, everyone was gathered together in a number of small clusters, listening to their mentors, or engaging in investigative Q&A sessions.
Doug, a young man in his twenties, was hanging around, listening intently to one of those Q&As. When I introduced myself, Doug was courteous enough in his reply... but he seemed a little cool, somewhat distant in his response.
I did my best to make him feel comfortable and welcome... I asked engaging questions... I listened attentively to his answers... I tried to explain the practical value of the business opportunity in plain English.
At the conclusion of the evening, I encouraged Doug to take a serious look at the business... I wished him all the success in his endeavors... and I invited him to give me a call if he needed anything...
Doug is now doing well with the Amway business. He's growing, making money, and having fun!
I asked Doug why he decided get started in Amway. He explained that he got started because of me. I was curious as to what he meant by that... was it my skill at answering his questions? ...or maybe the skill with which I actually asked HIM questions?
Not really, he said. Actually, Doug explained, he had simply never talked with anybody like me before...
Anybody like me before... hmm, like me how...
Well, like me in skin tone... you see, Doug was a young white man from Southern Kentucky. And I was a not so young black man from Louisville... and I was genuinely interested in him!
As strange as it may seem, Doug had never really had any positive interaction with a black man before... apparently there aren't that many black men where he's from. And the few that ARE there... well, let's just say, he's never had much of a positive experience with any of them!
So... I didn't really know what I did that day, the day that I met Doug. I thought I was expanding a business with a new prospect. But, I didn't actually know that I was doing much more than that...
I didn't know that I was making a real impact on Doug's outlook in life. I didn't know that I was changing his viewpoint about an entire race of human beings. I didn't know that I was exposing Doug to something that he didn't even know existed... the possibility of a warm connection to a positive black person.
So, let me ask you... when you do what you do, whatever it is... do you truly know what you are doing? Do you really understand the impact of your words, your actions, your attitude? Whatever it is that you are engaged in, does it really matter what you do?
If you were to ask Doug... he would probably say that it surely does.