Unfortunately, saying thank you seems to be an after thought more and more. So at least once a month, I will take a few minutes to publicly appreciate someone that has had an impact on me.
This round: Connor
Since I’ve highlighted that I don’t really have a line between professional and personal, I decided this month is really only about my first son, Connor. He was born silently in 2004. He would have been 12 on the 17th.
Just like any mother, my emotions are endless and quite the roller coaster. The dynamic that I share today is an abundant amount of appreciation I have for him. I think most parents would say they are a better person as a result of their child. I know I am.
I’m going to focus on my appreciations as they apply to work. If you were to ask me what point of my career did I realize that I wanted to lead from the edge, it was after I slowly started coming out of the fog after his death. Simply, deliverables, customer satisfaction and awards were no longer enough. I understood what mattered and what didn’t…people mattered. My career was not about companies, titles or projects but about how much I’m helping people. Despite hearing from others that I was a leader, learning to live with my loss helped me actually want to be a leader.
Thank you Connor. I miss you every day.