In honor of the birthday of Art Garfunkel, shown here singing his heart out with his hands in his pockets, today is Sidekick Day.
Think where we would be without the sidekicks of the world. Without Robin, we would lose the Dynamic Duo, which is the best alliteration in the comic book world. There would be no one to say "Holy moly, Batman," as the Caped Crusader (ok, that's a pretty good alliteration, too) surveyed the scene of the crime.
Without Piglet, Winnie the Pooh couldn't sing,
"I could spend a happy morning seeing Piglet,
And I couldn't spend a happy morning not seeing Piglet,"
which, I would assert, is the best unrhymed couplet in any bedtime story.
Three weeks ago, one of my clients had its annual gala. Without Julia, it would have been just another party. The executive director hates small talk and big crowds. She has seen pictures, taken at last year's gala, that offer proof of her talking to people she doesn't remember talking to.
This year,
the ED had Julia following her through the crowd. Julia had a list of the top donors the ED needed to talk to, with notes about what to say to each. She had a pen so she could take down tidbits of each of those three-minute conversations. She had an earpiece that connected her to the reception desk, so she had help tracking down the VIPs. By the end of the evening, those three-minute conversations had launched the next steps in the engagement for 15 of the 20 people on that list.
The executive director sent an email to the other five the week after the gala saying "I am sorry I didn't get a chance to talk with you at the gala. Can we get together?" You can't send that email to someone you might or might not have spoken with.
Thank you, Art. Thank you, Robin. Thank you, Piglet. Thank you, Julia. The world is a better place because of you. Keep singing your heart out with your hands in your pockets. Keep kicking those sides.
