The Skill Most Valued

     Every job or profession has its minimum required skills.  A pilot has to be able to land the plane and a surgeon must wield a scalpel.  But it is rarely those type of skills that are noticed by passenger and patient (Captain Sullenberger’s landing in the Hudson being the exception proving the premise).  That is because the ability to perform the basic skills required of one’s job is expected and their performance is considered routine.  Contractors build houses.  It is not particularly notable when they get the roof on straight. 

     The skill that is notable in all jobs, the one that is actually extolled in actuaries, zoologists and every job in between, is the ability to establish and maintain human relationships, particularly with difficult humans—the “Human Touch”.  The jobs that do not require the Human Touch are pretty rare.  Sculptors?  Wait, they have models and patrons who are human, it is only the result that is made of stone.  Actually, I cannot think of a single job that does not require some human interaction, and the person who most excels at the Human Touch is generally the most valued (and the most highly compensated—for what that is worth).  When we refer a doctor to a friend, is it not his bedside manner that we are advocating?   It’s the Human Touch isn’t it? 

     So what exactly is the Human Touch and how does one get it?  It is axiomatic that something so valuable cannot be distilled into one pithy statement—or even a hundred-pound treatise.  We spend our working lives either learning by trial and error how to apply the Human Touch in our jobs, or ignoring the necessity to do so.  But, here is a place to start; obey the command the Lord gave HIS chosen humans:  “(a) new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so must you love one another.”  (John 13:34).   I contend that this command is where the Human Touch starts.  If you are a lawyer, that means loving  your clients, and (groan) your adversaries, and (grunt) the judge—as Christ loves you.  If you are a bus driver, love your passengers and the lawyer who cuts you off in his Lexus on Providence Road—as Christ loves you. 

     It is unnatural to do this.  It is extremely hard to do this.  Many days you will feel like you are the only one who is trying to do this.  And that is why it is the Skill Most Valued.