Category: Leadership

The fifth most important lesson I learned in 2014:

Love Story – My parents married in January 1946, and are deceased. A few years ago my sister handed me a stack of letters  they wrote to each other during Christmas-time 1945… with Billie June at her mother’s home in Ft. Worth and Tom awaiting to be discharged from the Navy in New York City. I got around to reading them this summer – and felt honored to witness the deep feelings a then 17-year-old girl and 21-year-old boy shared. That generation didn’t spend much time reflecting on the past, perhaps because of the pain of the Great Depression and World War II. These 70 years later, I’m glad mom and dad chose to keep those cherished letters.

Continuing the Top 10 Things I learned this year… number six:

Auto Responder – My biggest pet peeve is inconsiderate drivers who cut in-and-out of traffic… and I typically reacted by saying: ‘What an idiot!’ or ‘Can you believe that guy?’ Last summer, after yet another incident, my son asked, “Dad, why do you care?” In that moment I realized those situations were causing me unnecessary anguish. My new response is to say, “Dude, you must be in a hurry.” Then I hum a version of the year’s biggest hit: “Let it Go. Let it Go. The road never bothered me anyway.”

Here is the seventh best lesson I learned this year:

Tempus Fugit – I was speaking about children with another client whose kids are much younger than ours… discussing how quickly they grow up – and I mentioned Kathy and I are close to being empty nesters. (There are happy things about that thought… and sad ones, too.) “A friend of mine put it this way,” he said. “When you’re raising kids, the days are slow and the years are fast.”

Lesson eight learned this year:

Energy Drain – Our electricity provider contract came up last summer and we received a renewal offer that was 40% higher than the expiring rate. I called and said: “We’re a loyal customer. What’s your best deal?” The salesperson reduced it in half. I decided to price shop and found an option at the current rate, so I called back and gave them a chance to counter. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that.” I let them know we would be switching and asked not to be contacted after the fact. Sure enough, two weeks into the new contract, an email arrived saying they would match the rate. Let’s just say I called, confirmed we were being recorded, asked to make sure the president heard what I was about to share… and for 10 minutes railed about the way they treat customers. Unbelievably last week they reached out again: “We just wanted to find out why you decided to go somewhere else.”

Here is the ninth best thing I learned in 2014:

Golden Years – Baby Boomers are hitting retirement age every day. A 64-year-old client was hesitant to let go of his career… for fear of what to do during all that free time. I told him that everyone I know who’s made the leap had the same apprehension, yet a few months after stepping out of the rat race said, “I wished I had done this sooner.” A few weeks later Steve let me know he would stop working at year’s end: “I picked the date and rediscovered that commitment precedes happiness – whether you’re retiring, making an offer on a house or getting married.”