The We Approach

DO YOU EVER WONDER about how your life came to be what it is right now? I ponder mine every now and then. And the older I get, the more curious. As I began to write this piece, I recalled an old photo from about too many years ago as I was just beginning to write for a large airline. I sat with an Executive VP for a photo op at a messy desk with writing (copy) everywhere.

The stage was literally set. The VP and I were both smiling. He wanted to hold his hand in a certain way (for the snapshots) so as to show that he was “leading.” His office was quite different—mahogany-lined walls, a tidy desk. And a giant model airplane suspended from the ceiling. But he didn’t seem to mind my meager work space. No doubt he’d done his time over the years working his way up from the bottom.

After the last picture was snapped, he began to negotiate for more information to be added to the article. But statistics and flow charts are of little interest to frontline workers (my audience). They like photos of themselves to show their friends.

So I decided to convince him, over the course of our conversation, that the frontline workers wanted to know things like how much he cares for them and that he appreciates their professionalism. I could talk about improvement with some wordsmithing. I continued, “Using the word WE throughout will communicate volumes to the regular guys.”

Our team works as “we.”

He listened carefully and after considering what I said, I saw a glimmer in his eye. “Yeeeessss!” his hand stroking his dimpled chin. He had a new idea for his division . . . he would call it, “The WE Approach To Landing Success.” I appeared to be on my way to ‘landing’ a corporate writing career. I thought.

The good news was that the VP was thrilled with the edition, and enjoyed a new respect among the workers. The bad news was his corporate life span ended much too soon. As did my writing career. It’s life. We put ourselves out there and give our best efforts in hopes of recognition, but we can be so easily forgotten—by people.

Soon I found myself back among my old teammates. I recall stepping out of an office with cushy seats, air conditioning, and soft lighting into a hot, humid Georgia afternoon with sunlight so bright it nearly buckled my knees. I was free to move forward—just in another direction. I didn’t know I would soon be asked to take on an even bigger project.

The new gig had little to do with publications, but I would need to write skillfully. A few positive connections I’d made along the way would help create a new corporate initiative that thrives to this day. It wasn’t and isn’t about ME. I offered ideas, but it took a team to produce. It was about “WE.” And what an enormous difference that one letter makes!

Have you ever wondered how your life came to be what it is today? You started out focused on taking care of yourself, but maybe it just didn’t work out the way you thought. But out of nowhere, you befriended someone who helped you—and/or they needed help, and you could help, and you did. I have seen it so many times now, I am fully convinced that there is no such thing as coincidence. We are never alone. Though unseen, we observe the powerful presence.

There really is One who is closer to us than a friend and who loves us more than we love ourselves. We are not forgotten. And nothing done for the Lord is ever wasted! Though our realization may be slow, we who believe are always in the process of discovering that our lives are, well, about the “WE Approach To Landing Successfully” at home. Any turbulence we encounter was never meant to discourage or make us afraid, but to remind us to call upon our Teammate regularly. Life is never all about ME, it is and always has been about, “WE.” Happy landings, my friends! (Ecc. 4:12)

©️2021, 2022, Gary Landerfelt, MyPericope.com