One of my favourite Christmas carol’s is “Do You Hear What I Hear ?” Such a simple message from such a simple shepherd whose only great talent was paying attention to his surroundings. To see things as they were and as they could be. To understand that everybody changes places for importance depending on what they know at the time. He paid attention and all he did was deliver his message to someone who needed to know. Did that make him more important than the King for whom his message would mean so much ? For a brief time it did. The lowly shepherd would be most important for his message and his ability to see beyond the crown to the man.
I think this is something people lose sight of. I firmly believe that we all fluctuate in importance. I don’t give Scientology much credit overall but I believe it was L. Ron Hubbard who said that we must all be able to see beyond our own limitations and recognize that importance changes based on circumstance. If I’m flying in a plane, then at that time, the pilot is the most important person in that circumstance. However, if on that flight I need a pillow or food, then the flight attendant moves up the scale of importance because I’m certainly not going to go ask the pilot to refill my water.
What this all means is that in a normal or abnormal situation, we all have talents and abilities that will change our importance based on the circumstance. To me, this levels the playing field and I don’t get intimidated by others very often. In a job interview, the only difference between me and the person behind the desk is that they are already on the payroll. My skills and abilities will fill a gap that they can’t just like theirs will either help or hinder me getting hired. When it comes to the office events, my skills as a cake decorator, event planner and photographer will make me the most important person to that event. But when it comes time to balance the books and get the payroll done, then the HR person is the go-to. This doesn’t make us any better or worse than the other – just more necessary as the situation demands.
What we need to remember to see is that our importance is not dictated by others. Our importance is dictated by how we see ourselves. By how we value our skills and talents. By how we perceive our ability to impact a situation. If you allow someone’s title to intimidate you, then you aren’t going to take the initiative to change things. You aren’t going to feel confident that your ideas have value. You will consistently allow others to take the steps you are fully capable of taking. Your message, whatever it might be, will not reach the audience it needs to because you can’t see beyond the crown.