Earlier this week I attended the funeral of a man whom I knew over the years, but it would be presumptuous to say we were close friends. It was a great funeral and I continue to think about the lessons I learned as I listened to the various eulogies.
- He was always the same person–whether his role was as a leader, counselor, friend, brother, husband or father. Lesson: Let the real you be present in all that you do. You will derive great benefit from being authentic.
- When later thanked for a piece of wisdom or good counsel, his response was generally, “I said that?” eliciting a chuckle. Lesson: Be humble. It draws far more people to you than tooting your own horn.
- Every time he spoke to a group, he wrote it out and practiced it at least twice. His listeners always thought he was a fabulous, extemporaneous speaker. Lesson: Prepare. You’ll always look better, and you can concentrate on what others are doing and saying.
- He held his position for 34 years and loved it. Of course, it was not without challenges, but he knew what he wanted to do and the scope within which he wanted to work. Lesson: Find the joy in what you do.
- Each person spoke movingly, and also with great hilarity, of the bond he or she had with this man. Lesson: Communicating your genuine regard, respect and pride is a gift to the recipient and has lasting worth.
- He smiled at everyone he liked; and those he didn’t like as much–he smiled at them, too! Lesson: A smile is the cheapest gift you can give, and you will never know how much it means to another.
Not particularly complex lessons, but the impact on our business of life can be profound.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 10:34 pm and is filed under HR, Marketing, Personal Growth, General Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
