When I was a young gemologist, I had an opportunity to lead a group of GIA alumni on a tour of the gem centers of Europe. Our first stop was London to visit De Beers, the largest diamond mining and marketing company in the world. During the visit, we had a charming man take us through the inner workings of the De Beers cartel. We learned about the storied history of De Beers, the discovery of diamonds in South Africa in 1866, and the diamond rush that followed — similar to the gold rush of 1849 in California. We witnessed how rough diamonds were sorted for color, clarity, shape, and size. And we saw and held diamonds of large size, great beauty, and high value. It was a gemologist’s dream come true. I’ll never forget that first experience, though I had many subsequent visits to De Beers, both in London and in South Africa.

Returning home, I took the time to write a personal note of thanks to the kind British gentleman who had guided us through the De Beers organization that day. It was such a wonderful experience that I just had to thank him personally for making our visit so special. Several weeks later, the president of our organization approached me and said that he had received a letter from that gentleman in London. Unbeknownst to me, he was a personal friend of our president, and he had complimented me on both the visit and on writing a personal note of thanks. How would I know that the British gentleman was a personal friend of our president? And how would I even think he would take the time to write to my boss to compliment me?

When you take the time to do what others are too lazy, too undisciplined, or too lame to do, you stand out from the crowd. This is a key principle of communication and of leadership. I will never know what impact that one handwritten note had on my career. But I do know that the sum of small, thoughtful acts of communication has had a positive impact on my life. If you have a passion to touch people and to influence them for good, I encourage you to use this skill to enhance your leadership of people. You have no idea what a word of encouragement, a note of thanks, or a kind and open dialogue with people can have on their view of you and your leadership.

It’s true. It IS the little things in life that really count.

Tags: Advice, Character, Developing Leaders, Ethics, Personal Development, Philosophy, Relationships, Reputation, Responsibility, The Mind of a Leader