Bucket Filling

There’s a concept I was first introduced to at one of our schools called “bucket-filling”. I thought the idea was clever, though I was not sure if it was an idea used by that particular teacher or if it was widely used. I did some research and found out that it is not only a method commonly used in schools, but it also is a pretty large trend. Bucket-filling, basically, is showing kindness to others. You can read the story here. Stephen Covey calls this same idea “filling the emotional bank account”. People have emotional bank accounts that others can fill through kind and encouraging words and actions. On the flip side, “bucket-dipping”, or making withdrawals from the account, are negative words or actions to others.

I was doing a lesson in my Sunday preschool class that I teach on kindness, and this seemed like a great way to get the idea across to the 2, 3, and 4 year olds. Let me tell you, they are crazy about bucket-filling. It’s amazing how when you present someone with a concept in a way that is fun and that they can understand how it takes off.

That got me thinking. What if
we as colleagues, friends, and just plain fellow human beings went around filling buckets and making deposits in others’ emotional bank accounts? How would that affect our job performance, attitudes and general happiness? When people are happy, they are generally more effective and more productive at their jobs. It doesn’t mean that people should go around spreading false cheer to others to get them to feel all warm and fuzzy. But true kind gestures are easy to make, they don’t take long, and they have immediate and lasting results. They help us take the focus off of ourselves and put it on others around us. Bucket-dipping, or withdrawals, are the result of anger, selfishness, and spite. All things that block our ability to connect in positive ways with others. By building relationships, we become better workers, better teams, and better people. How will you fill someone’s bucket or bank account this month?

- Karen