Anytime I start a new job, regardless of the position, my first order of business is to become an observer. I wanted to learn about the culture. Throughout my career, I found actions speak louder than words. I’ve learned so much by watching the actions of people. Actions will tell you more about a person’s intentions than anything they can possibly say. It becomes a big problem when their actions don’t mirror their words. In any case, I highly recommend you trust their actions more than their words.
Actions Speak Loud Even with Kids
A few years ago, a grandson was very interested in baseball. His father helped him a lot but he could only help him so far. Since he wasn’t a baseball himself, we looked at enrolling him into some baseball clinics. The clinics were intense. He spent more time on exercises than he did practicing his swing and throw. However, his passion for baseball was so strong, he did whatever was required of him. His passion is very visible through his actions.
Another grandson was very interested in karate. One day, I took him by a karate place to check things out. Unfortunately, the place was closed. So, I told him if he found a place and got the information, we can look into. His passion immediately showed through his actions. Within an hour, he called me with the information and gave the place my contact information. His actions showed that he wanted it, so we registered him for classes.
However, he could only go so far with his training. We would have to commit to the black belt program for the training to continue. This training was quite expensive. This commitment wasn’t placed on the student. The people paying the fee actually had the commitment placed on them.
Actions Did Not Support What He Said
Four months prior to having to make such a commitment, we told our grandson if he wanted to continue, he would need to show his commitment. We noticed he was struggling with some of the requirements, I asked him to exercise 3 days a week such as jogging for 20 minutes. He was reluctant to do so. So, now it was coming time for the monetary commitment. Our grandson told us that he wanted to continue. Yet, he did not do what was asked of him. In essence, his actions did not mirror his words. Again, we asked him for a commitment. We told him if he didn’t do what he is committing to, he would have to render his play station until he gets on track. This did not go over well. He decided not to continue with karate. He showed he wasn’t willing to commit.
How about the Business World
Actions speak louder than words definitely happens in the business world as well. Here is another blog that shows this. I worked for a company where I was interviewed for several hours by a manager to ensure I promote teamwork. I always felt I was promoting teamwork. Well, along came an incident where I promoted and supported teamwork. Interestingly, I got in trouble with my supervisor when I did it.
I am retired and work part-time. I recently had a situation where my work schedule did not mirror the availability form the business requested by everyone. Specifically, I requested to work 15-18 per week. Yet, one schedule had me only scheduled for 8 hours. We were told to email 3 people if we had an issue. So, when this happened, I emailed the 3 people. To my surprise, I never received a return email. In essence, their actions didn’t mirror their words.
To summarize, watch the actions of others. It will tell you a lot. Some people actually give little indicators of their intentions without even knowing it. They call that “Hidden Language”Hidden Language”.
