My life in a box.........

Image by jaycross via Flickr

.......holds a lot of memories.

This afternoon I went through the "box" that holds the mementos of my life. Yes,there are all the report cards from K-12, transcripts documenting my participation in the Southeast Asian War Games, and a solid 3.2 GPA regardless of the school I attended or the degree achieved. There were the many NYC Marathon certificates, Triathlon photos, books about racing and the Operators Manual for the Beechcraft A-36 Bonanza, my favorite airplane that I love to fly!

 If you were to look at my accomplishments versus the general population you'd find me in the minority,  fewer than 3%. My most recent achievement, Certified Advertising Specialist, a professional designation, puts me in an elite class. That's right, again fewer than 3%.

However, the best was uncovering the note from the editors of the Harvard Business Review (June 1986), acknowledging my submission of a letter commenting on an article in a previous edition. They had published an article maligning the Vietnam Veterans. I replied, and it was eventually published. Me, published in the Harvard Business Review. I didn't realize the significance of this until I attended a week long Executive program at Michigan State University. Upon completion of the program , we had a celebratory dinner at the University Club. I had the good fortune to be seated at a table with a group of the faculty. The program was truly great, the faculty top notch and the participants rising stars in their respective organizations.The conversations during dinner were the usual small talk. Somehow, leave it to academia, publishing came up. I was out gunned, I thought to myself. I had written an article in my college newspaper (setting things straight about Vietnam Veterans). This conversation, however, required more. Then I uttered, "well I was published in the HBR". Everyone at the table paused, you could hear a pin drop. Pause for effect, I continued, " it was only a letter to the editor". That didn't matter, these guys validated and celebrated the importance of that effort.

Since then I've gone on to write many articles for several trade rags, Blog, Speak and do the occasional letter to the editor. Full circle.

Isn't it time for you to get involved and join in the conversation?

stay on the offensive and make a difference.............