Leadership Lessons Learned

I’m sure most of you have heard Van Halen cover You Really Got Me from The Kinks on their 1978 self-titled album.  You may not have heard them cover The Kinks with a version of Where Have All The Good Times Gone on their perhaps lesser known Diver Down album of 1982.

The field is probably narrowed quite a bit when considering how many of you may have also heard The Best Is Yet To Come by Count Basie and Frank Sinatra from 1964.  The 1964 prediction turned out to be quite true as my Rockstar wife was born that year.  However, I wonder how much popular sentiment of much verbiage issued today matches the ratio of how many more have likely heard the 1982 Van Halen cover versus the 1964 Basie and Sinatra classic?

I fondly remember my father being a huge Count Basie fan and riding in our 1970 Oldsmobile Toronado GT with the 455 big block and 400 horsepower with The Best Is Yet To Come blaring out of the 8 track tape deck embedded in the dash.  Like what I guess is many others, at times now I get caught up in the news of the day, the shortcomings on ideals being achieved, and other things that make me not only yearn for yesteryear rides in the early ‘70’s, but perhaps make me wish things were as they once were on many levels or in many areas.

Thankfully, I have things to snap me out of it and remember that as a human race, as a society, as a country, as a planet, and on a smaller scale as businesses and/or leaders, we’ve seen a thing or two before, we’ve pushed or pulled through them, and we’ve for the most part lived to face another day.  Much like the beautiful view of the moon on the water, we should and can cherish the moment of beauty, but we also can rest assured we’ll see it again.  While a solar eclipse or a blue moon might be quite unique, full moons or beautiful pictures happen much more often.  We must remind ourselves of that and know that despite all that was great in our past, the best can and should truly be yet to come.

In the last few years I’ve spent many moments reflecting on great gifts given to me by others professionally throughout my career in terms of their time, their knowledge, and/or their excellence they’ve shared with me.  Gratitude isn’t even a strong enough word to describe my appreciation for that.  However, I’ve also been given new gifts in the last few years of introduction to some people I’ve not known at all, some I’ve heard of but never acquainted with, and deeper connections with some I’ve know for a very long time and am now understanding and appreciating on another level.

Earlier this year alone, Pat Reinhardt who I’ve been graced with coming to know in the last few years and who I’ve learned a great deal from observing, introduced me to Raj Rawal.  Who knew that at this point in my life, I would be gifted with a mentor like Raj who is graciously providing me with some of his time so I can learn from him how to be not just a better professional, but simply a better person, when I pay attention to the lessons and do apply them of course.  He’s introduced me to some simply great people who are invested in making tomorrow better, who are focused on educational improvements at all levels, and who truly represent that the best is yet to come.  What a gift.

So whether you’ve experienced the highest of the highs in your past or the lowest of your lows more recently, I truly believe improvement is possible continuously and the beauty of the moon on the water is out there for you to see and appreciate if you take the time.  Perhaps not day in and day out, but hopefully enough so you can be routinely reminded.  To quote Count Basie and Frank Sinatra: “Best is yet to come and babe won’t that be fine.  You think you’ve seen the sun, but you ain’t seen it shine.”

May you all help others to see the beauty in things to come and that will truly shine through for everyone while you appreciate the past and set a course for improvements and excellence in all things you touch, teach or team up on.

#leadership #mission #itmatters #mentorship #thebestisyettocome