Margaret was 65 years old when she came to work for us.

She was looking for a job and, to be honest, she was different from most of the people on our team. She spoke a little slower, didn’t always understand the jokes the younger employees were making, and sometimes needed extra coaching when learning something new.

I hired her anyway.

Over time, I discovered something the rest of the team hadn’t yet noticed.

Margaret was a machine.

While others were talking, Margaret was working.

While others were worrying about what everyone else was doing, Margaret was focused on the mission.

Month after month, her voter registration numbers were off the charts.

One day, several members of the team were sitting around discussing who I should fire.

I laughed.

“This is community work,” I told them. “You have to be pretty bad to get fired.”

Then someone mentioned Margaret.

Their complaints were predictable.

“She’s old.”

“She’s slow.”

“She doesn’t get the jokes.”

I listened for a moment and then smiled.

“Okay,” I said. “So when you’re old, slow, and don’t get the jokes, we should get rid of you too?”

The room got quiet.

What they were seeing were differences.

What I was seeing was results.

The following month, Margaret became the top voter registrar on our team and earned an award for her performance.

We decided to make the moment special.

Without telling her, we invited the entire team to dinner. We also invited her husband.

When everyone was seated, we announced that Margaret had won.

She immediately started crying.

Then she stood up and hugged me.

“You are the best supervisor I’ve ever had,” she said.

But what I remember most wasn’t the award.

It wasn’t the registrations.

It was her husband.

He sat there smiling and repeating the same words over and over again.

“I’m so proud of her.”

Looking back, Margaret taught me an important lesson.

Assumptions can prevent us from seeing the value in people.

The team saw someone who was older, different, and a little slower.

What they didn’t see was her determination, her work ethic, and her heart.

Relationships begin when we stop judging people by what we think we know and start taking the time to see who they really are.

Margaret reminded all of us that people are often far more capable than they first appear.

And sometimes, the people others underestimate become the ones who inspire us the most.