An Entry to End Entries?

Not quite, but my promise to you today is one of pithiness.

Of all the words that have been written about leadership, performance and the like...of all the 'ornamentation' we hang here and there to garnish the tree, it always comes down to this:

CONNECTION & CONTRIBUTION within RELATIONSHIPS defined by TRUST.

End of story.  Period.

We all desire a sense of connection--to others, to purpose.  To make a difference, to contribute something.  To buzz the work and get 'r done.  To see, as Steve Jobs wrote, "a dent in the universe."

"I made that," the credit rolls...

If we can truly connect to someone and something--and be trusted to achieve worthwhile outcomes, life is good.

Don't believe me?  Read any study, particularly longitudinal ones like Harvard's 70-year-old 'Happiness Study.'  Or faster yet, ask an unemployed person why he or she is periodically depressed.  "I'm drifting, untethered.  I feel emasculated and small.  I want to engage and provide and be counted."

Whether we look at it as a parent, sibling, child, employee, citizen...it makes no difference.

To reach our potential, to sing our song, to paint our masterpiece, to live life to the fullest--this organism requires connection and contribution within relationships defined by trust.

Now go get yourself some air, water, sunlight and soil.  Plug-in and power-up.

And if or where you struggle, don't lose hope or give up the fight.

Even weeds find sunlight through concrete, and so do we.

Connect and contribute in even the smallest of ways and, like a spark in the night, the rest often takes care of itself.