Gerry Reid's Professional Development Tip
Hold that Elevator!
For the next 30 days, try this pleasantry and see if you do not feel better about yourself. Every time you are the first person to get into an elevator (or go through a door) hold it for someone else.
I have observed that it is the exception, rather than the rule, that someone will want to wait for another person to enter an elevator, especially when the automatic door closing mechanism decides it is time to go. Next time, hit that "Open Door" button. Let someone else on; let a bunch of people on!
Sure, it will take longer for you to get where you are going, but it will probably add up to no more than a minute total. You never know - you might just have "made someone's day." Maybe they needed a positive event in their lives after the things that occurred in traffic, or with their kids, or with their spouse.
The real winner in practicing this courtesy is you. While not a word may be spoken by the recipient, you know that, over time, people will notice that you do this courteous thing every day. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you have done something kind for another person.
I started my career at the General Motors Photographic building in Detroit. Occasionally I ran into an elderly man who always held the door on the elevator, leaned out into the corridor and checked for others trying to get to the elevator. He would say, "Come on - I'll hold it!" Kinda' like this elevator was a prize "we" had won!
I do not know his name, I do not recall ever knowing it. Yet I vividly remember his smiling, wrinkled brown face. I remember hoping to see him. I also remember wanting the chance to do the same for him. Somehow either the opportunity never arose, or I never saw the opportunity because I was looking for the "Close Door" button.
Thirty-two years later, I still remember how I felt when he held the elevator for "me!"
When he passes on, I'll bet he gets an "express" - directly to heaven.
- [As I was writing this article, it struck me - he must have worked on a very high floor, as I never saw him get off the elevator. I wonder if his office might have been in an even higher place, somewhere far above the top of any building?]