This isn’t about them, those Presidents and what we can learn, good and bad, from them. This is about YOU. (it often is, isn’t it?). Our leaders do leave a legacy. So do you and I would argue that yours may be greater because it is personal. Well, it CAN be.

The choir director/organist/etc at our church passed away recently. He was a gifted pianist and I enjoyed listening to him play. He was a music teacher also. As people gathered to celebrate his life, those stories, often forgotten, came rushing to the surface. Our pastor wrote that perhaps he was best at sharing time with people. He learned to truly be there WITH someone when he was with them, never showing a sign of wanting to be anywhere else.

Two quotes from former students ring loudly.

you gave me a warm, pleasant place to “run to” at a time in my life that was very chaotic…that yellow choir room was a safe-haven for me, giving me one period a day of happiness, confidence, and comfort. I can only hope to be half the teacher and person you are.

He always believed in me. Heck, he even liked me. He thought I was worth something. For a little fifteen year old with low self-esteem, that meant the world to me.

WOW. What would they say about you? And don’t fool yourself and say these are the writings of people talking about high school. There is a fragile fifteen year old still inside all of us.

Leadership is a relationship but is also about impact. You might impact others simply by pausing to spend time with them as you visit a site or conduct a review. Put the technology down and look them in the eye and ask yourself, what will they say about me when I am gone? If you tell yourself you do not care….

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2013 at 2:33 am and is filed under Leadership, Life balance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.