💊 When There’s No Meaning, Compassion Gets Stuck in the System

A little while ago, I went through a minor medical procedure.

Nothing dramatic until the pain showed up.

And it didn’t just visit… it moved in.

I asked for painkillers.

“No problem,” they said.

They just needed to open a file, get the doctor’s signature,

have the nurse approve it

and make sure all the stars in the universe lined up.

My wife fierce as a lioness went to the reception desk.

But the clerk wasn’t there.

She called her name a few times.

When she finally came, she was in the middle of a chat with a friend.

“I’m busy for a moment,” the clerk said.

My wife, gentle but firm, the kind of gentle that comes

from watching someone you love twist in pain

insisted she finish the call and open my file.

From there, it turned into a pilgrimage of signatures,

forms, approvals, and waiting.

Almost an hour until I finally got something

to take the edge off the pain.

An hour that never should’ve happened.

I lay there

not angry, not complaining

just thinking.

If that clerk only realized

that for her it was “just another file,”

but for me it was another unnecessary sting of pain

everything would have looked different.

Not because she didn’t care,

but because no one ever explained

what helping really means.

And it’s exactly the same in organizations.

When people don’t understand the meaning behind their actions,

they stop seeing the person and start seeing the procedure.

Because when there’s no meaning,

compassion gets stuck in the system.

So tell me

in your team,

do they understand the procedures,

or the people behind them?

Because real leadership begins right there

in that moment you realize

that behind every “just another request,”

there’s someone waiting to be seen.