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“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.”  – Luke 12:48 

One of the many legendary stories about Fiorello LaGuardia, the beloved, colorful Depression era mayor of New York City, occurred on a cold January night in 1935 when he turned up at a night court that happened to serve the poorest ward of the city.  Dismissing the judge for the evening the mayor took over the bench himself.  Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread.  She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.  But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges.  LaGuardia sighed.  He then turned to the woman and said, “I’ve got to punish you.  The law makes no exceptions – ten dollars or ten days in jail.  Simultaneously he reached into his own pocket producing the ten dollars to cover the fine.  “Here is the ten-dollar fine which I now remit.  And furthermore, I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat.”  The following day the newspapers reported that $47.50 had been collected and handed over to the bewildered old lady.

My first job in the financial business, the one that launched my career, was with a large regional bank in Fort Worth, Texas.  A great legend about that fine institution, and one that defined its culture for years, was that during the Great Depression when banks were failing and unemployment was rampant, the bank’s leadership promised to do its best to remain solvent and not lay anyone off if the employees would agree to an across-the-board pay reduction.  The employees unanimously agreed, and the bank kept its promise, saving many from financial ruin and starvation.

Every blessing carries with it a corresponding responsibility.  Mayor LaGuardia, a blessed man himself, took great responsibility toward the well being of the citizens of his city, teaching others through his example to do the same.  Likewise, the bank’s endeavors to uphold its employees and the community it served became so imbedded in its culture that later generations, like me, felt its impact.  Beneath his signature on all his written communications my friend Charlie, a retired minister, always includes these words, “Go bless somebody today;” for we all have something to give that will bless the life of another, don’t we? “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.”  

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”  – Matthew 5:5 

As a young man Nicolas Herman had little choice except to join the army, that is if he had any hope of regular meals or collecting even a modest stipend.  Born in 1614 in eastern France to poor parents and limited education opportunities, Herman’s options were few, thus he remained in the army for several years where he fought in the Thirty Years’ War and later served as a valet until an injury rendered him unfit for military duty.

Following his release Herman entered the Discalced Carmelite Priory in Paris as a lay brother, not having the education necessary to become a cleric.  There he spent the rest of his life within the walls of that priory assigned to working in the kitchen, a lowly position, tending to mundane chores of cooking and cleaning at the constant bidding of his superiors.  Such was the life of Nicolas Herman, quietly serving God and mankind expecting no acclaim whatsoever.

Indeed, whoever even heard of Nicolas Herman?  No one I suspect . . . unless you are perhaps familiar with the man better known as Brother Lawrence, the religious name Nicolas Herman took upon entering the priory, where despite his lowly status he touched so many lives with his wisdom and spiritual guidance that after his death his letters and conversations were compiled in a book called The Practice of the Presence of God, which for centuries has remained one of the most widely read books among Christians.  Yet Brother Lawrence spent his life modestly, serving God and mankind in simple ways, expecting no acclaim whatsoever.

We all hope to leave some sort of legacy, don’t we?  But are we willing to do so without some hope of acclaim for our deeds?  As Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in the bucket, to be hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served?”  Some have encouraged those of us who have experienced good fortune to shift our life focus from success to significance.  Perhaps an even more noble step might be instead to shift from success to insignificance.  Notably, Jesus mentioned neither the successful nor the significant among those who would inherit the earth, only the meek.  Blessed be you, Brother Lawrence, for setting the example.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  – Proverbs 27.17 

At the beginning of his highly acclaimed best seller, Good To Great, Jim Collins proclaims good to be the enemy of great.  So, what do you think he means by that statement?   One answer might be that good – taken to mean good enough – often times settles in as a form of complacency, thus holding us back from reaching our full potential.

Once upon a time I envisioned achievement as being something of a destination, to reach a certain level of accomplishment in some lucrative field such as law, medicine, or finance, then kicking into maintenance mode and reaping the rewards of success.  It was an idea similar to winning the lottery then living on easy street.  One day, though, I realized I had reached the destination I had envisioned for myself and had in fact kicked into maintenance mode.  It was not what I thought it would be.  Something was wrong.  Easy street had become a dead-end street.  Good [enough], I discovered, was my enemy not my friend.

My own encounter with the enemy “good” was what eventually introduced me to the profession of coaching, first to be coached myself then to coach others.  It opened my eyes to the great potential that exists among bright, well-educated high achievers in today’s marketplace who in my opinion represent one of the world’s greatest under-developed resources.  The potential lies in transforming proven successful people and their endeavors from good to great rather than settling into maintenance mode as I had begun to do.

Coaching is not about teaching or offering advice.  Instead, it is about exploring possibilities together with a fellow human being, or as the Proverb teaches, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  The thrill occurs when new potential is discovered and begins to develop, which always inspires a little more development of my own potential.

We all have the potential to become more than we are, to reach new destinations.  And beyond each of those destinations are still more frontiers to explore.  The only thing that stands in our way is when we settle for “good”, allowing it to become our enemy.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”  – Matthew 7:12    

In the latter years of my corporate career I once found myself in an intense debate – a knock-down-drag-out argument actually – with my boss about a certain colleague who though extremely skilled at what he did, had severe interpersonal deficiencies.  I argued that in the long run his inability to interact favorably with other people would one day be to his detriment.  But my boss strongly defended the guy, arguing that as long as he produced such profitable results it would outweigh his inability to get along with people.  Neither of us ever won the debate, though, for soon after we had engaged in that heated conversation the man left our firm and took a position elsewhere.

Given my passionate position in that particular debate it should come as no surprise that in my current profession of executive coaching one hundred percent of the work I do with executive clients centers around human interaction; for I have observed, and firmly believe, that no matter what position a person holds, how powerful, skilled, intelligent, innovative, or gifted, the ability to relate to others is pivotal in his or her personal and professional effectiveness.

While there are certain skills one can learn about human interactions (hundreds of books have been written on the subject), ultimately it is an art, artists being those who present thoughts, ideas, or interpretations through a particular medium (painting, sculpting, music, poetry, playwriting come to mind), but are equally focused on how the audience might receive or perceive their works.  It is an equation in other words.  That’s why those who are masters at human interaction are artists, by creatively conveying their thoughts in such a way that considers how others will receive or perceive them.

In a nutshell, masterful, effective human interaction is a Golden Rule activity, a simple equation – treat others equal to the way you want to be treated.  That was the beef I had with my former colleague, his failure to recognize human interaction as an equation.  Imagine how successful he would have been if he had.  “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,” Jesus said, “for this sums up the Law and the Prophets,” as it also sums up effective human interaction, and the formula for living an abundant life.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

• Hebrews 11:1 

Inspired by a funeral he once attended, singer, songwriter and renowned harmonica player Buddy Greene composed and recorded a ballad about the life of an old acquaintance of his named Charlie, a notably righteous man who had lived a good life, but whose health began to fail and eventually died.  Except as Buddy describes so eloquently in the ballad’s lyrics, that was hardly the end of Charlie’s story.

“Now the sky was cold and gray / at the funeral home that day / And the friends and family gathered from far and wide / And they all stood by Charlie’s grave / and they listened to the message the preacher gave / And thought it was over when up stood Charlie’s bride. / She said ‘I’m sure glad to see you all here / ‘cause Charlie held you all so dear / And he wants to see you all in heaven when it comes your time. / So if you want to die like Charlie died / you’ve gotta live like Charlie lived / Loving God and people and longing for the other side.’” 

It should be obvious that Charlie was a man of deep faith.  But what is faith?  First of all, it is not optimism, that is a “Pollyannaish” belief that a positive outcome is forthcoming.  Neither is it a philosophy or religious system.  Rather, faith is just as the scripture defines it, “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”, derived not from scientific proof or mathematical fact, but from an intimate relationship with God.  Like my mother who, after being told she only had a few months to live, looked her family boldly in the eyes.  “Don’t worry about me,” she proclaimed.  “Grieve because you miss me, that’s okay.  But don’t worry about me.  I know where I’m going!”  She was as resolute about that as I had ever seen her, and remained so up to her final breath.

The surety and certainty of our faith gives us the strength to overcome the difficulties we inevitably face in this life and provides the freedom to use our lives for good purposes.  It is by faith that we are able to live like Charlie lived, and one-day die as resolute in that faith as Charlie (and my mother) were; for faith is about being sure and certain of that empty tomb on Easter morning.  As the witnesses cried out, “The Lord is risen!”  Yes He is, He is risen indeed!  Happy Easter!