100 Business Days Out: Day 56- What Lasts?

Today I was at a Grammy Foundation Board meeting in LA. We met at the NARAS HQ in Santa Monica. This was the June meeting, the meeting where the new Board members come on and there is a rotation of officers and Directors whose terms have expired. Today saw the rotation of Steve Schnur out of the Chairman position. Steve has been a great Chairman proving himself once again in a different setting as a tenacious and graceful leader of others. What struck me this rotation was that when Steve took a few moments to reflect on his tenure and comment on the highlights of his term. During his talk I noticed that the weight of his talk was not on what had been accomplished but rather how the accomplishments had been achieved and even more so the recognition of the people who helped him get there and then be successful. I was very proud to be one the people called out by Steve, but that was not what struck me. What struck me (like the lightning bolt namesake of this blog) is that at the end of the day...no matter if at the end of a project...the end of a tenure...the end of a career...the end of a life...it is still all about the people that really matters and what lasts in the minds of others. No one finishes anything without a recognition of other people who have lifted them up, pulled them along, pushed them over the humps. It holds up everywhere...acknowledgements in a book, movie, song, etc. So, if this is a truth then why is that we wait for these "special" moments to make the recognition instead of making it a continuous process? I am encouraged when someone else says "thank you for the help" aren't you? However, we tend to let those moments drift by and try and bundle them all up until we feel like we have an armful load of logs before we start the fire. But, what is is that starts a fire? It's not the logs, it's the twigs and the branches that get the fire going so the log can take hold. Maybe we should think more that way. Let's not wait until the funeral to say thank you. Let's not wait until the awards ceremony to recognize the support of others. I'm not saying don't stop doing that too, as I felt pretty darn good after Steve's talk (it was the first thing I told Patti when I talked to her) but let's also as leaders step in and send the email note of recognition today, the handwritten note of appreciation and the public thank you in front of the person's peers, every chance we get. We need to do that because if for nothing else we know down deep inside that that is what really lasts. BTW, thank you Steve for the very, very, kind words. That meant a ton to me and won't be forgotten. They will be words that last!