 |
|||
|
|||
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||
By Lorene Rasmussen
Dr. Randy Pausch went from a beloved yet un-assuming college professor to international stardom when his talk "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" hit YouTube in the fall of 2007. On many college campuses, The Last Lecture series is a common practice where professors are given the opportunity to ponder what matters most to them both personally and professionally, then invited to share their thoughts with the student body. Ironically, by the time organizers got around to asking Randy, he was dying of pancreatic cancer and living life to its fullest. The lecture Randy presented was transcribed into the
book, The Last Lecture, and published
before he passed away on July 28, 2008. With the
help of co-author Jeffrey Zaslow, Randy filled in the
back-story of his lecture, told stories of his life, gave
pointers on managing relationships, and incited his
reader to look at the most valuable asset,
TIME. "Time is all you have," says Randy. "You may
find one day that you have less than you
think."
Just weeks before I ran my first Marine Corps Marathon in 2007, a friend of mine sent the YouTube video that had been circulating through email forwards. David warned me I might need a tissue, but most people say that when sending an email with the subject line reading, "FW: RE: Must See." So with my cynical attitude, I clicked on the link and began watching. Randy was attractive, clever, and certainly entertaining as he unfolded his story of childhood dreams: being a husband, father, uncle, and college professor. He told the audience not to pity him because of his pancreatic cancer, because, to-date, he was probably in better shape than most of the younger students in the audience, which he proved by getting down and accomplishing several pushups with claps in between. I stayed strong throughout the lecture, laughing when
the audience laughed, and admiring Randy's ability
to keep my attention even though it was only a
YouTube video. I took some notes, jotted a couple
clever quotations (that I still use), and decided this
was something I could pass on to several of my
friends. As the video was coming to a close, Randy
did something unexpected: he asked the audience to
sing "Happy Birthday" to his wife and urged her onto
the stage. That's when I lost it! Something
unplanned and authentic was taking place, and I
could not put my finger on it.
In his book, Randy remembered, "I really had no idea
what I would do or say. . .a natural impulse overtook
me. Her, too, I guess. We embraced. . .I kissed her
cheek. The crowd kept applauding. . . As we held
each other, Jai whispered, 'please don't die.'" It was
then I realized what I had felt, I was experiencing a
couple's sacred moment, even though I was
removed by thousands of miles, a month from the
original presentation, and watching it in a virtual
world.
Randy saw himself as more than a college professor. When working with the students, he was forever sharing pithy statements and clichés about life. Most of the time, the students would just roll their eyes at the "Pauschisms," but that did not make him stop his practice. Pausch knew that students would graduate prepared technically, but without a managed life, they would ultimately flounder. Pausch wrote candidly about his views on
encouragement, honesty, integrity, risk, forgiveness,
surrendering, vanity, legacy, and dreams. He
admitted he was a "player" with the girls before he
met Jai and a "sucker" for Jai when he thought he lost
her forever. Randy was practical, brilliant, and
irreverent. He enjoyed making people think, laugh,
and question his intelligence. Randy knew who he
was, and he was genuinely comfortable in his own
skin.
When Randy received his diagnosis of pancreatic
cancer, he appreciated how his doctor broke the
news to him. "Randy, you have three to six months of
good health." It was that kind of feedback that made
him willing to be the human guinea pig. He worked
with the best doctors in world, faced extreme doses
of chemotherapy and experimental medications, and
did not care how much he got knocked down,
because the real test was whether he got back up
again. Randy truly believed he experienced the best
of humanity throughout his life.
Randy Pausch was grateful for having advance notice
of his death, but as you know, most of us are not that
fortunate. They tell us to plan for the future but live
like there's only today. It sounds like a paradox, yet I
believe there is something gratifying in balancing
both realities successfully.
At the risk of sounding morbid, imagine yourself at a
funeral. In the foyer of the funeral home, you see your
family members, neighbors, co-workers, a few
business associates, and lots of friends. You
recognize your sixth-grade teacher chatting with a
chum from elementary school. There is a quiet hum
in the room from all the conversations that are taking
place. You quietly walk through the crowd, eaves-
dropping on what folks are saying about this one you
are there to honor. You hear specific attributes and
characteristics as you make your way to the casket.
When you finally approach it, you realize the person
everyone is talking about is you. What were the
people saying about you? How were they describing
your life? What made you unique? Did you like what
they were saying? I guess the real question is, "How
do you want to be remembered?" Randy put it this
way, "Yearn to find ways to leave a legacy."
Stephen Covey calls this future-forward and profound
exercise, "beginning with the end in mind." The idea
is to look at where you are today in light of where you
want to be and how you want to be remembered. For
many who take this assignment seriously and
continue to make adjustments when there is a
deviation from the ultimate goal, may actually find
more enjoyment, even in the minutiae of the daily
grind.
Randy Pausch did not write The Last Lecture
for me or for you; he wrote it for his children,
Dylan, Logan, and Chloe. He wanted them to know
their father in a deep and meaningful way. Randy
knew right from the start that the book would be no
replacement for a living parent, but it was his attempt
to leave something greater of himself behind besides
just a house and an inheritance.
The
Last Lecture
is #5 in a series of informal book reviews.
Lorene Rasmussen is the Partner
for Business
Operations which guides and supports the
daily and
strategic operations of Leadership
Advisors Group. She
combines a unique sense of fun and
organization to
ensure operations run smoothly and that
clients receive
the highest quality service possible.
Lorene earned her Bachelor of Business
Administration
in Marketing from Boise State University
and is a certified
Life Coach through Genesis Enterprises
in Seattle,
Washington.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||
The Character of Leadership:
An Ancient Model for a Quantum
Age
Author, Philip Eastman ll The current recession has unveiled many
organizational meltdowns that precipitated the
decline we find ourselves in. The causes of these
meltdowns are not primarily economic or regulartory
issues, but rather, matters of character and
leadership.
In his book, The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age Phil simplifies an ancient model that will help 21st Century leaders understand what they may need to strengthen their character and deepen their leadership abilities. "What a great read! I firmly believe the
common 'chink in the armor' of most organizations is
the lack of providing true development for their
leaders. Phil candidly addresses the critical topic of
leadership in this book, and brings some insights
into focus that should literally turn the classic org
chart structure upside-down!" ~ Peter
Mannos, Director of Retail
Development - Brooks Sports
|
||
|
|
||
|
Leadership Advisors Group helps
clients
achieve success through:
You are receiving this email from
Leadership
Advisors Group because you are a
valued
client, have requested information
regarding our
services, or you are part of a highly
respected
organization. To ensure that you continue
to
receive emails from us, please add
phil@leadershipadvisors.com to
your address book.
|
||
|
|
|
|
"Books can be great legacies left behind for posterity to those generations yet unborn." ~ T. Rasmussen
 Phil Eastman & Lorene Rasmussen
Leadership Advisors Group
email:
phil@leadershipadvisors.com
phone:
(208) 344-0471
|
|
