LEADERS ARE INTENTIONAL ABOUT HOW THEY LEAD – AND HOW THEY LIVE

This past week I was fortunate to attend a three-day leadership conference in Arlington, VA sponsored by the Georgetown Institute for Transformational Leadership Network (ITLN), an alumnus network for graduates of the university’s Institute for Transformational Leadership. In the coming weeks, I will be sharing some of the valuable wisdom I gained at this conference.

As you know, I have written here in the past about the importance of leaders carving out their legacies at work, regardless of the length of their leadership tenures at any particular organization. Legacies are what we leave behind – culture, change, enhancements, teambuilding, and, most importantly, people.
This subject came roaring back for me this week for several reasons:

-I reconnected with an old dear friend from my Georgetown CLE days and as we caught up in person for the first time in a long while, we spoke about all the teammates we had worked with and how so many had gone on to take on and excel at leadership positions in the public and private sectors

-I reflected on the admirable life of a close friend who died last week and how, despite living with a terrible long destabilizing muscular disease, she always maintained a positive attitude and served as a role model for all of her friends up until the day she passed away

-On Wednesday, the first day of the leadership conference, we devoted a session to remembering 9/11 and all the regular citizens and all the heroes who lost their lives that day

We never know when our time as a leader will end. We never know when a particular job will unexpectedly terminate. We never know how much time we have left here to make a positive impression and help this world be a better place – for our teammates, for our friends, for our family members, and for people we encounter along our unique journeys.

As a tribute to my dear friend and to all those heroes who lost their lives on 9/11, I want to share this poem by Linda Ellis that was read at my friend’s funeral service. As you read it, think about what you can intentionally do to help others and to live each day with meaning:

The Dash
by Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read,
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?

Copyright ©::
Linda Ellis

Remember, we all have the power to live our lives in ways we can be proud of ourselves. As we often say in my family, it’s lovely when people say “I am so proud of you.” It’s even more important when we can say “I am so proud of myself.” As you continue on your own leadership and personal journeys, please focus on how you want to spend your “dash.”

If you believe this content would resonate with a friend or colleague, please feel free to forward it along!

-Larry