There was an interesting article in the New York Times last week.  Well, there were probably lots of interesting articles in the New York Times last week, but there’s one that caught my interest.  The headline read “Gossip Girls and Boys Get Lessons in Empathy” and the article went on to explore the efforts of some schools in the US to build character and foster healthy values amongst their students.

There’s quite a movement to grow not just educated kids, but ones who will be good citizens and strong leaders.  Michael McDermott, a middle school principal is quoted as saying “As a school, we’ve done a lot of work with human rights.  But you can’t have kids saving Darfur and isolating a peer in the lunchroom.  It all has to go together.”  Apparently the schools have heard some complaints from students, both in regard to their belief that the school has no place speaking into their personal lives, and that despite all the best efforts in the classroom, real-life in the cafeteria and the hallway is totally removed.  But in my opinion, these school efforts totally fit the bill.  They’re teaching how words and actions have to work together.  And they’re linking it to healthy principles, like empathy and respect, responsibility and integrity.  Kids learn that those words actually have behaviours associated with them, and that there is a ‘disconnect’ if you don’t match your actions with your words.  This is a lesson that transcends schools and moves into organizations and relationships of all sizes and shapes.  We all need to understand what the values we espouse look like in our daily activities; otherwise they just don’t make sense.  So the next time you talk about respect, or excellence, or integrity, or whatever value you or your organization hold dear, take the time to explain what that actually looks like in context.  And even better yet, start a discussion.  I’d love to know how it works out.