A few observations:
Resurrecting these memories reminded me of just how often people really do deliver for each other with no expectation that their effort be rewarded. It gave me hope and the incentive to try to do the same.
I’m not a bucket list person. Most people don’t have that luxury. It is a privilege to enjoy the rewarding cycle of being curious, trying something new, failing a bit and succeeding. I still want to try hard things and to finish what I’ve started. Between about six-teen and fifty-five years old the “hard things” and the “had to” was a way of life. Now it is a choice. It never want to stop taking risks and trying.
I love the breaking of a glass at the celebratory end of a Jewish wedding… representative of life’s fragility and the reminder to us all to commit to pick up life’s pieces and try to create good. So, I conclude on a sobering story because life is messy and our world is a mess. Creating the chance to say thank you is my way of picking up a few pieces of broken glass.
Finally, when did we stop putting a space between sentences? There are some things I’m just incapable of evolving.
1997: Dear Gayle Fuguitt, Here’s how to sell a risky idea
Dear Gayle,
Ideas are the evergreen, but the tradecraft of proving their merit and selling them is so particular to an idea’s circumstance and context. Having an idea has never been my issue- honing them was my greatest opportunity.
1997: Dear Bob Blake, It’s not only ok but essential lead with heart
Dear Bob,
As you are well aware, a huge amount of our company’s history and success was managed “from the neck up” with highly competitive analytical excellence. Turns out that is not really my forehand. Sure, I can keep up and had great educational experiences to bolster. However, it was my gut and feel for what might be or what someone might need that was my north star.
1997: Dear Ann Richmond Gardner, Just Listen
Dear Ann,
Your role was tough… sitting between client and agency. The diplomacy required spanned a gamut of topics from the strategic to mundane. Everything from which idea to pursue to what color something might be may be up for debate. Beyond the internal players we also had a swirling array of audiences from regulators, lawyers, partners… who might want to jump into the fray.