100 Business Days Out: Day 14 - Reunion

Today was about traveling to New Orleans to speak to a reunion of Pizza Hut Alumni who get together once a year for a learning conference. A number of the people attending worked for me or worked within my organization when I was at Pizza Hut in the mid 90’s. Today they all have done very well and are division heads, senior executives, consultants, recruiters, etc. They invited me earlier this year to be their keynote speaker. What is best about these kinds of things is the time you get to reconnect with people who you have not seen for a long time and to see their progression and successes. Business reunions are different, but the same, as high school reunions. At my 10th high school reunion, it was all about “what are you doing, where do you live, what car do you drive…how well did you do?”. At my 20th reunion, it was about, “How are you doing, how are your kids, what are you going to do next…how good (in terms of happiness) did you do?”. The same arc holds true at business reunions. Of course, there is always the “who ended up the best” kind of banter but after all of these years, we aren’t kids anymore and we have settled into ourselves and make decisions and moves regarding our jobs in terms of what is best for the long run, for the kids and the family, for the financial nest egg. Here is a place where when you say, “I am taking myself out of the game for awhile” that the response is a genuine congratulations and support. These are people who knew you when. Who saw you when you were giving everything you had to your job and to them as part of the company. Who cared about your success and you cared about theirs, a time when we were all “coming up” and who want nothing more than to share the end-game together. For those who don’t go to these things, and I was one of them before, reconsider next time. These are your friends and people who you once shared a foxhole. These “people reunions” are good for the being. They are good for the soul.