Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

I heard a tremendous speaker this week!!
Bret Pyle talked to [one of the executive groups I’m blessed to belong to] about significance.

He prompted our thinking by asking about our interpretation of success…was it indirectly considered profit, absent conscience?

He quoted Twain who said “The two most important days of our lives are:
1. The day we are born and
2. The day we figure out why”

He asked us to consider who we need to forgive? (This assumes everyone has someone they need to forgive). From my observations, I think he’s right.

He suggested that the first half of our life is spent figuring things out and the second half is/should be spent helping others (children, coworkers, friends) figure it out as well. Bob Buford writes about this in his book, Half Time.

He told a story about “parenting to perfection” citing his father’s propensity to review his chores and catch everything not done well. He cursed his father under his breath and found himself duplicating the error to a higher degree as a father and shared how he worked to break the cycle. This one sounded like he was talking directly to me. {Kids, I owe you a sincere apology not knowing how to process the disdain I had for my father and as I have spent decades digesting the forgiveness formula for my dad, I unknowingly behaved just as he did. God teaches us to honor our father and mother and I took certain exceptions to this that I ought not have.}

He talked about Viktor Frankl who wrote “Man’s Search for Meaning” (a book my lovely daughter Aarika gave me to read this past Summer while I was adrift and trying to bridge the chasm between striving for success and seeking significance).

We were reminded of salient points through several clips from the movie “Dead Poet’s society”.
-Carpe’ Diem!
-Make your lives extraordinary!
-Find your own voice!

We plotted a graph of the year we were born and the year we think we’ll die…uh huh. Sobering. What year would you pick? Based on what? Once you pick a date, what does that do to your outlook? Perhaps create a sense of urgency? I only have x number of years to __________.

It also inspires inner questions like;
•What do people (who’s opinion I truly value) honestly think about me?
•How do I WANT to be remembered?
(I suggest you google and read about the Alfred Nobel story who one day in Paris around 1888 read his own unflattering Merchant of Death obituary.)
•Why am I here and did I recognize, realize and accomplish my mission?

So, inundated with high caliber data points and thought provoking questions, I began to ruminate over Bret’s presentation and decided to pay the favor forward.

Challenge: take an hour and contemplate what you would have to do: ideas, actions and behaviors, from this point forward in your life for your legacy to be mostly positive. In other words, What would your eulogy sound like?

•He helped me in a difficult time.
•She listened to my concerns when I didn’t think anyone cared.
•He was proactive and kept me out of trouble.
•She saw the big picture and relentlessly compelled me to think big until I finally got it.
•He stretched me to be considerably more than I would have been otherwise.

What are you going to do TODAY and this point forward to help someone else become better?

Have a blessed weekend.