My older son recently moved out of the dorms and into an apartment. As parents, of course, we made the trip to make sure he was settled and had everything he needed.

When we got there, he had brought all his clothes with him. My responsibility was simple: help put them on hangers so he could hang them in the closet.

For years, I have taught my kids a simple standard:

Do things well the first time. Never do poor work that someone else has to come behind you and fix.

I have probably repeated that more times than they wanted to hear.

So there I was, putting his clothes on hangers. After a while, I started getting a little sloppy. In my mind, the clothes were on the hangers. Good enough.

Apparently, not according to my son.

He looked at a few of them and said:

“Dad, you have always said, if you don’t have time to do it right the first time, when will you find time to do it over?”

Then this young man handed me the clothes back to rehang them.

I looked at him.

My first thought was, So we have reached this stage now? My son is telling me what to do?

But then I smiled.

I was actually proud.

He had been listening.

All those years of talking, correcting, reminding and sometimes wondering if anything I was saying was getting through—it was.

It reminded me of a story Mr. Kepha once shared with me.

A young man arrived about 15 minutes early for a job interview. On his way into the building, he saw some trash and picked it up. Inside, he was kind to the receptionist. Later, while looking for the interview room, he walked into an empty room, noticed the light was on and turned it off.

When he finally sat down for the interview, he was told he had the job.

No questions.

They told him they had already seen what they needed to see.

He arrived early. He picked up something that wasn’t his responsibility. He treated people well. And he did the right thing when nobody was telling him to do it.

Those small things showed who he had already become.

That story came back to me while I was seating there rehanging my son’s clothes.

As parents and leaders, sometimes we get tired of repeating ourselves.

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Are you even listening?”

Keep teaching.

Keep correcting.

Keep reminding.

And most importantly, keep modeling it yourself.

You may not see the impact today. They may not acknowledge it. Sometimes they may act like they aren’t listening at all.

But don’t assume your words are being wasted.

One day, those lessons may show up in how they work, how they treat people, what they do when nobody is watching, and the standards they hold themselves to.

And every once in a while, they may turn around and hold you to the same standard.

I rehung the clothes.

And I smiled.

Maybe that is one of the greatest rewards of being a parent or a leader: seeing something you have taught for years finally become part of who someone is.

So, what lesson have you repeated over and over to your children or the people you lead that you hope they will still practice when you are no longer there to remind them?

Dr. Anthony Ndungu, PhD. MBA, RN
Entrepreneur | Leader | Growth Advocate
CEO, http://www.kansashomehealth.com|www.medicashift.com|www.meadowlarkcarehomes.com
“We make lives better.”