The Courage to Connect — How Micro-Moments Shape Your Culture

There’s a reason I still write “love notes”—real cards, handwritten, colorful, sometimes sparkly—for my team every week. Our hospital has a pretty unique requirement from leadership — one note of appreciation per week. I usually send four or five, sometimes more.

Not because I’m trying to be extra (though you may now by that I am).

But because people are starving for connection.

I send a card to someone on my team who went above and beyond, someone who’s struggling, someone who just had a baby, or maybe a night shift nurse that I barely know at all—simply to bridge the gap. I send another to a leader or colleague in another department who blessed me that week. Sometimes I pick more. And sometimes I’ll get a response in the hallway or on my phone. They’re some of the warmest, gentlest texts I receive all month.

In a digital world that keeps getting louder, faster, and more transactional, a real card—something you can hold—is strangely magical. It’s a reminder that someone saw you, noticed you, paused long enough to care.

And really, it doesn’t take much.

Sometimes all it takes is a moment of humanity.

I lightly whistled at one of my older nurses yesterday because her outfit was “the bomb.” I told a teammate his new shoes were extremely cool - and, honest to a fault, they really were! If someone looks a little frustrated, I’ll tap their elbow with a playful, “Mosquito! Don’t worry—I got ‘em,” and walk on with a grin. None of this looks like formal leadership strategy. It’s just knowing how to be human.

Culture is built in micro-moments—the tiny sparks of recognition that remind people they belong. Specific praise is one of the strongest forms of communication because it reveals what you notice and what you value.

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Lonely Rooms, Silent Floors, and the Fear of Rejection

I know college students sitting in dorms surrounded by hundreds of people—but they feel alone. I know adults who show up to work every day, laugh with their coworkers, respect their peers, and then go home wishing they had someone to spend Saturday with… too afraid to ask, “Hey—want to hang out this weekend?”

We have entire generations terrified that the risk of rejection equals the risk of getting canceled. As if courage itself has become dangerous.

But here’s the truth:

Connection requires risk. Always has. Always will.

Do you like hiking? It’s more fun with a friend.

Don’t know how to make a friend? Pretend you’re hosting.

“Can I get you a chair?”

“Want a Coke?”

“Let me help you carry that.”

Simple. Human. Easy.

Have you noticed? Culture is already trying to swing back toward connection. People are quietly desperate for someone to notice them, include them, appreciate them, or simply say something kind without needing a reason.

You don’t have to be intense. You don’t have to be profound.

But you do have to be present.

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Touch Someone — Make Communication Human Again

HUMANITY isn’t creepy. Touching someone on the arm to say hello, offering help, or paying a compliment isn’t intrusive—it’s connective. And no, not everyone will receive it well. Some will give a suspicious look. Some always have, throughout all of history.

But others?

You’ll make their day.

You’ll make a memory.

Sometimes you’ll make a friend.

Every single time, you’ll make the world a better place.

So write a note. Whistle at the cute shoes. Compliment the bright new hair color. Hold the door. Start the conversation. Lean into the tiny gestures that remind people they’re seen.

Communication is 90% more than words, right?

It’s slowing down long enough to hear someone’s smile or sense someone’s mood. It’s speaking value with your presence, not just your sentences. Connection is culture, and culture is built one love note—one human moment—at a time.

Touch someone. Bring connection back.

🎧 Listen to the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/79xtbglza3zpQZkHMub0cG?si=EwlgHEjrSTytputVqNvR8Q