Big Memories

More introspective questions from a recent survey:

Q: What has been your biggest mistake? What did you learn from it?
A: In the midst of a critical and contentious stretch, a leader from a volunteer organization invited me to a meeting under the pretense of "following up" on a topic that had been covered previously. That topic had been my struggles with some behaviors of the leader. The actual meeting was a sort of surprise intervention where I was ambushed by three leaders of the organization and confronted with my own faults. To make matters worse, I lost my composure. The lessons I learned were (1) when taken by surprise, take a mental step back from the conversation, so as to react with calm and reflection... "everything's gonna be all right," and (2) attend no meeting until the agenda is clearly understood.

Q: What is the worst thing that ever happened to you? What did you learn from it?
A: This one took some pondering, because I believe that few things "happen" to us, and most are products of our own decisions. So I landed on Dad's death from liver cancer at just 66 years old. I learned that sometimes God does things that suck! But I'm not complaining. In the big picture I've received a thousand times more good than bad, and after all... if you make a world, you're entitled to do whatever you want with it! If that occasionally means turning a magnifying glass on one of the ants... so be it.

Q: What's the biggest risk you've ever taken in your career? What's the biggest risk you've ever taken in your personal life? Do you think differently about the two situations?
A: At work, I once defended an employee's performance when senior managers were pressing to issue a lower rating. A year later, the same room quietly agreed with an even higher rating I gave the same employee, evidenced by a turnaround that was especially satisfying. In my personal life, it would be the risk of joining my life's fortunes with Dena's, I think it's a risk no matter who the couple is. And because marriage is forever, I most certainly do think differently of it. The job is just something I do. My relationship with Dena is part of who I am.