“I Believe in You”

The Focus Radio (http://thefocusradio.com/leadership-tips-for-women/) interviewed me this past week on the topic of Leadership Tips for Women in the Workplace. One of the questions they asked me was about the difference it makes when someone believes in you and how someone else believing in me shaped my career.

As I pondered on the important and powerful words “I believe in you,” and what the impact these words can have in a person’s life, I realized how blessed I have been to have several people believe in me during the course of my life. I wonder how many children grow up with no one telling them those life changing words. I wonder what their lives would turn out to be if all children heard those words often.

When we believe in someone, we are telling them that we approve of them just the way they are. We are communicating to them that they are important enough for us to believe in them. We are letting them know that we love them, as individuals. We are putting our trust in them and believe that they are a good person. It’s never too late to tell someone that we believe in them. A person’s life can change because somebody had the courage to believe in them and to tell them.

It is a risk to believe in someone because we are putting our trust in that person. We run the risk of being disappointed. But somehow those words empower the recipient and encourage that person to be the best they can be. When a person hears “I believe in you,” they also get a sense of responsibility and accountability. The one hearing those words now feels encouraged yet somewhat obligated to not let down the person who told them.

Today I encourage you to think of at least one person in whom you believe and to tell them. You may never know the impact that your words will have in that person but that’s ok. You will feel blessed to have the opportunity to tell somebody “I believe in you.”