IT Leadership Manual: Roadmap to Becoming a Trusted Business Partner

CHAPTER 8

What Is Your Balance?

Life is such a short journey and the older that I get the more I realize how quickly it goes by. I look back over my career of over 40 years and some of it is a blur; it seems like much of it has sped by at warp speed. You remember things in general rather than specific terms until something happens that reminds you of a specific instance in the past. It is the same with my children. They are all grown now and have children of their own. Sometimes you forget the small quirks they had when they were children and suddenly you'll be watching a commercial or TV show and see a child do something that immediately triggers a memory of your own children. When I coach younger people, I always tell them to enjoy the journey and the time they have with their families. Many of them look at me rather strangely when they hear this advice because they don't understand how short life is. That is probably one of the hardest lessons I've learned, so I try to help people understand how quick the journey is and how it accelerates the older you are.

In corporate life, it seems we are always planning the next meeting, the next event, and the next trip. We are always thinking a week, a month, or two months out. Earlier in my career, I sometimes had a hard time remembering what month it was. I'd have to stop and say “This is January” or “This is July.” I didn't recognize how crazy it was that I was so caught up in the activities of the job. I would say many of you have ...