What If We Just Cared More?

Over the past few days, we've watched numerous fires burn just north of Reno. We've watched evacuation notices go out, seen people wondering whether their homes are safe, watched firefighters head directly toward something everyone else is being told to get away from. And when things get difficult, we've watched people show up for one another.

Which… got me thinking. Why are we so incredibly good at caring for one another when something goes wrong and sometimes so incredibly busy when everything is going right?

I think there’s something about a crisis that strips away all the noise. Nobody standing next to an evacuation zone cares about your job title or asks whether helping their neighbor fits neatly into this week's schedule. You see someone who needs something, and if you can help, you help.

It's human.

But imagine if we carried a little more of that philosophy into ordinary Tuesdays not because something terrible happened. Just because we noticed.

And it turns out being king is kinda a big deal. There's actually quite a bit of research behind something most of us already know instinctively: people do better when they feel like they matter. Research on workplace belonging found that employees with a strong sense of belonging reported 56% higher job performance and 75% fewer sick days.

In addition, the U.S. Surgeon General has identified social connection as an important contributor to our overall health and well-being. People with a strong sense of community belonging are 2.6 times more likely to report good or excellent health than people with a low sense of belonging.

Apparently, humans like knowing other humans care about them. Groundbreaking, I know.

But perhaps the more important point is that caring isn't just a nice addition to a healthy culture; it helps create one. Caring doesn't always look like opening your home during an evacuation or organizing a community fundraiser. Most days, it's considerably way less dramatic.

It's noticing when an employee who's normally full of ideas seems unusually quiet, giving people grace when life happens outside the office. Or checking on the neighbor you haven't seen lately.

None of these things require a strategic initiative, a committee or, thankfully, another meeting. They require paying attention.

Watching what's happening north of us has been another reminder of how quickly circumstances can change. Maybe the challenge is remembering to show up when there isn't smoke in the sky.

Because a workplace filled with people who genuinely care about one another is a better place to work, and a community that looks out for its people? Well, that's the kind of place worth building.

No emergency required.