It was a Christmas to remember.
Jessica was a new mom that holiday season. Having had her new baby boy just a few weeks before December, she was right in the middle of all the bliss and all the chaos that comes with having a newborn. Sleepless nights, feedings every few hours, her body recovering, the new emotions that hit every minute, parenting her toddler on top of caring for her baby, and generally learning how to function as a family of four. As any parent knows, those first days, weeks, and even months of navigating newborn life can be filled with more highs and lows than you’re even prepared to manage.
One particular day, Jessica found herself struggling. Her son was three weeks old, and she was just plain exhausted. She hadn’t left the house since he’d arrived, she missed spending time with friends and family, her own recovery was slower than expected, and she just couldn’t seem to shake the general feeling of overwhelm. Desperate to get out of the house, she called her husband at work and asked him to come home to take a walk around the neighborhood with her and their son.
While they were gone, a UPS truck made a stop at their house to drop off some packages. This alone wasn’t any big deal of course. As parents of a newborn, their shopping for the season was done only online, so packages were arriving daily to Jessica’s house. Each time she’d get a notification to her Ring doorbell app letting her know her items were delivered, and each time she’d check to make sure all was well on her front porch. This day, however, what she found on that doorbell notification wasn’t at all what she expected.
Dallen was a young man working seasonally for UPS to make some extra money. He was a new father himself, having his first child around the same time as Jessica, and he’d been placed on the route that had him delivering all her packages for the last few weeks. He noticed when a stork was placed on their porch to announce the arrival of their son, and he remembered on this day weeks later when deliveries brought him back to their home.
Knowing they weren’t home at the time, Dallen leaned down to face the camera on their doorbell and started talking directly to the new mom behind the door.
“If this is the ‘It’s a Boy’ house who had the bird out here for your baby a few weeks ago, I just want to say I hope all is going well with your newborn. I had a child around the same time as you guys did, and I just hope everything is going good for your family. God bless and happy holidays!”
When she found this message hours later, Jessica was speechless. Dallen didn’t know her. He’d never seen her face or had a conversation with her. He didn’t know that she was struggling a little more than usual that day. He didn’t know that she needed that encouragement more than ever. He didn’t know how much his words would matter to this new mom and her family.
He didn’t know them, but he saw them. He remembered that stork in their yard. He remembered their new baby’s arrival. And as a new father himself, he understood what they might be experiencing on the other side of that front door.
In that moment, he could’ve chosen just to think about them and move on. He could’ve chosen to drop those packages, wonder how they were doing, and leave without a word. Instead, he chose to lean down eye level with their doorbell and offer a word of kindness meant just for them. He chose to speak to this new mom with encouragement and love.
And in doing that, Dallen chose to make an impact.
Make An Impact
Every single day, we’re given the same opportunity. In every interaction we have with a customer, we have the choice: We can go through the motions of our jobs, or we can do something to make an impact.
And I think the best employees—the best people—are the ones who choose the latter.
They’re the ones who choose to make an impact.
It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the monotony of our jobs. We can be so tempted to see the customers who experience us as just another part of the routine.
Another person in line,
another phone call to answer,
another house to deliver packages to,
another plane full of people to serve,
another table who needs drinks,
another patient who needs help,
another online chat to manage,
another shopper in your store.
It’s easy to see the people we interact with at work as just one of the many. But when we do that, we allow ourselves to miss one important detail about who they are: They’re a life.
They’re a person we have the privilege to serve. They’re somebody we can meet exactly where they are.
They’re a customer who matters more than the service, the transaction, or the bottom line.
They’re a life we have the opportunity to impact in even the simplest of interactions.
Choosing to see the people we serve and encounter at work as the living, breathing human beings they are is the first step to making an impact. It gives us a new lens to see not just who they are but how we can intersect with their story in the moments we’re with them. It gives us eyes to see the impact we can make and a heart to step out and make it.
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