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In response to last week's article "Atrophy" about the disservice we do to people when we show them misplaced compassion, Jesse Kloos of Rico Equipment in Ohio sent me this story about his mother, Karen:
"When I was young, my mom and dad got divorced. My mom received custody of my brother and I. My biological father did not pay child support and avoided it by working under the table.
"My mother received food stamps and Medicaid for a short while-but eventually took two jobs because she did not want to be a 'charity case.'
"During this time we stayed with my grandparents a lot since she could not afford day care. Many years later (she was remarried to a good husband by this time), she paid my grandparents back by buying them a little retirement home that they would not have been able to afford on their own.
"This is a true example of leadership-and charity. My mom received charity from the tax payers. She paid this back through much hard work and being a productive member of society.
"My mom received charity from my grandparents. She paid this back by making life easier for them in their retirement years.
"My brother and I received charity from our mother. We were never able to repay her in the ways we would have wanted because she died unexpectedly at the age of 55. But I will share her example with my children someday and maybe, through that, will be able to pay it forward."
Brilliant.
Over the years, I've received incredibly insightful, and at times touching, responses to my newsletters like Jesse's. I'm always thrilled to hear from any one of you.
When I've received them I've often thought, "Man, I wish everyone could read this." Or "This would make for a great discussion."
I love when people learn from others-minds stimulating minds, thoughts creating new ones. When I have my two-day Leadership Intensives, one of my favorite portions is the small group discussions. I schedule four of them over the two days. It's a leadership community sharing ideas, thoughts, challenges and insights-most participants felt that they were one the most important parts of the workshop.
I've decided that I want to create that here. Today I'm beginning two new initiatives (three, I guess, if we include the slightly different title of this newsletter you may have noticed at the top).
Beginning today there will be a comment link at the bottom of each newsletter. Click on it and you can post your comment on the article for all to see. And others will be able to see your comments and comment on them.
I want to create a leadership community focused on improving your leadership capabilities. I think it will be fun, interesting and helpful.
Secondly, you can now follow me on Twitter. Don't worry I'm not going to tweet every time I eat a cornflake.
What I will tweet is what I call "Doug Cartland's 10 Second Reminders." They will be short reminders of results producing, rock solid leadership principles and practices.
I will tweet one every business day (except when I'm on vacation. Sorry...when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation).
Take advantage of these leadership improvement opportunities...I think you'll find them invaluable!
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