This Marine Fights-Life and Leadership Lessons from a Family Hero
A fair number of the people that follow this blog and my twitter feed are familiar with the events surrounding my father-in-law’s open heart surgery during the past week. Your many thoughts and prayers and the work of the skilled and dedicated medical professionals have all combined to give my father-in-law, Bob, a good chance of sharing his great stories and corny jokes and infectious belly laugh with us for years to come. Of course, continued good thoughts, prayers and karma are all appreciated as we move day by day to get Bob healthy and back on his feet. Thank you.
Bob is a true American classic, a U.S. Marine (retired, Korea) and the loving and heroic father of his daughters and of his 4 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. He’s been a part of my life since I met his beautiful daughter 31 years ago in high school.
After 9 hours of open heart surgery on Monday, Bob started coming around in the past day and while he’s not himself yet, even the post surgery affects of anesthetic and the various drugs can’t keep him from rasping out a string of corny jokes and one-liners with surprising frequency. Like everyone else that this man touches, the medical staff adore Bob and they laugh with him as they help him through the early recovery process.
In fact, everywhere we go, we are discovering how deeply this kind, gentle giant of a Marine touches people. From his brothers to his good friends and neighbors to the service providers…bankers, doctors, restaurant managers that have learned that Bob is fighting, their concern is genuine and their thoughts immediately on their wishes for his recovery. His calling cards…an ever-present smile, good humor and his kind soul create friends everywhere.
Bob has a lot left to do. There’s the countless number of barbecues (he’ll be eating lean meats, chicken and vegetables); the marriage of his granddaughter next fall and the growth of my sons into young men that Bob must be around to observe and enjoy. And yes, he’s got people to meet and smiles to pass along and of course, those stories need to be heard many, many more times by all involved. I’ve not yet memorized the history of most of the twentieth century that Bob lived, and I remain his student.
I’ve learned much from Bob, but perhaps the most important reminder that he serves up is for us all to touch everyone that we come in contact with in a positive way. And while much of this blog focuses on dealing with the tough issues of leading and managing, even the tough issues offer opportunities for positive touches. Bob was a Marine Drill Instructor, and I’m fairly certain that there was nothing fun about the experience that he subjected his recruits to during basic training. However, even those tough touches were intended to help people fight and win and most of all, survive to pass the lessons along.
Bob’s in-process lesson for all of us is crystal clear: touch everyone that you come in contact with in a good way. And while the touch cannot always be with a joke or even a smile, you need to go out of your way to make that touch. You might save a life, impact a career or offer a fresh start to someone that needs it.
Keep fighting, Bob. We’ve got more to learn from you.
Back to School: Teachers are Our Early Leaders-Have You Thanked The Ones that Made a Difference?
Filed under: "To Do" List, Career, Leadership, Professional Growth
Note from Art: Every year I write a “Back to School” piece to celebrate what I believe is one of the great milestones of the year. While your teenagers might beg to disagree, in reality, most are bored by summer vacation and ready to get back to friends, football games and yes, even classes. It’s a fresh start filled with endless possibilities for learning and growth. This year we’re back to school with both sons at college, and I continue living vicariously in education by serving as an adjunct professor starting in a few weeks. I love fall!
My “Back to School” theme this year is one of giving thanks to that special educator that made a difference in your life.
Have you Thanked the Teachers That Made a Difference?
By a show of hands, how many of you have gone back and thanked that one teacher that had such a profound impact on you that he or she may have helped set you on course for your life and career?
Hmmmm, I didn’t think so.
I bet you’ve thought about it, like I have, but haven’t taken that extra step. After all, teachers are timeless, aren’t they? Certainly, they are locked in our minds as they were when we were younger. As nice as that sounds, we all know that they grow older like the rest of us and retire to give way to the next generation of educators.
With school starting back up in most parts of the country during the next few weeks, now would be a good time to reach out to that teacher from 20 or 30 years ago and let them know that they made a difference. Catch them before they move off into retirement. I believe my former favorite teach just recently retired, and now I’m stuck trying to look him up, when I had almost 30 years to drop him a note at school. Talk about procrastination!
I have no doubt that your expression of appreciation will be well received. Since few teachers that I’ve ever met are in it for the money, the knowledge that he or she made a difference will help reinforce their own earlier decision to dedicate a lifetime to serving as an educator.
Don’t Procrastinate, Thank Someone Now!
Another way to offer thanks is to provide a shout-out to the teacher here on the blog. I’ll start things rolling and hope to entice a few of you into sharing your “inspiring teacher” stories here.
My special thanks goes to Mr. Dennis McSherry of John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL. Mr. McSherry was the Speech Teacher, and is the person responsible for helping me understand how important it is to work hard at becoming an effective communicator. He taught the Introduction to Speech course as well as Argumentation (something I was naturally suited for), as well as courses in Broadcasting. Additionally, he ran the Debate team.
He convinced me to join the Debate team when it was considered less than cool by the cliques that determined what was or was not cool, and I had a blast and learned a lot about myself in the process. Since I’ve never really been cool anyways, I guess I fit in. Ironically, way back in 1978, the subject was something like, “Resolved, a system of national health care funded by taxpayers and administered by the government is critical to the health of our country.” While I’m sure those were not the exact words, it was something pretty close. I worked the negative side of that debate. It’s a bit disturbing that it is still THE subject of debate here in our country.
I recall that Mr. McSherry was passionate about all things “speech” and he helped take the fear out of the activity by relating to the students and making us comfortable with the processes and approaches of effective speakers. To this day, I carry those lessons with me every time I speak on stage, in the classroom or am working and talking with one of my teams.
Thanks Mr. McSherry!
The Bottom Line:
Teachers are the early leaders in our lives. Like the bosses we work for, some relationships are just passing acquaintanceship and the lessons of others are with us for a lifetime. Treasure those leaders and teachers that make the difference and offer up that one overdue note of thanks. You’ll make someone’s day.
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