Learn the name of the janitor, receptionist, doorman…

I heard a story lately about a college student who just completed her master’s degree in business education and statistics at the University of Akron (USA).

Before she was admitted to the master’s program,  she had to take one last exam. She had good grades and felt confident that she would pass this class as well.
But when she read the final question that accounted for 25% of the grade, she froze. It was, “What is the name of the person who cleans your classroom?“

How could she be expected to know that name? She and several others in the class questioned the professor if this answer really counted so much toward their grade.
“Yes, it does,” said the teacher. “Most of you dream about being the president of a successful company, maybe even your own company, but success is a team effort. A good leader takes nothing for granted and recognizes the contributions made by everyone on the team even those people who appear to do the most insignificant jobs. Remembering their name is the least you could do.”

Tip for today
Make an effort to learn the names of people you see often, but whose name you still don’t know.