Yesterday I wrote about the incivility and indifference low status workers experience and how it contributes to today’s widespread employee disengagement. Mawi Asgedom is a friend who I admire in part for his passion to connect with people regardless of their status. Mawi graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1999 and was voted by his fellow students to be one of the Harvard’s four commencement speakers.

Standing before an audience of 30,000 Mawi gave a remarkable speech entitled “Of Snakes, Butterfies and Small Acts of Kindness.” He went on to write the story of his journey in life in the best-selling book entitled Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refuge Camp to Harvard.  Don’t miss reading Mawi’s commencement speech. I hope you’ll read the book too. After you read it, consider becoming an intentional connector to look for the disconnected who live among us and make an effort to connect with them? You’ll find disconnected people in the workplace, in your community, in your neighborhood and perhaps even in your family. There are many reasons people become disconnected including the indifference of others. We may not be able to help every disconnected person but we can throw them a lifeline with our words and actions that demonstrate we see them and that we care. I’ve found that reaching out to the disconnected usually has a positive effect on their lives, and always has a profound effect on my own.

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