that extra something special

It's interesting the things that stay in your mind from many years of work experiences.  When I was the Development Director for one of the larger international nonprofits I was with, I loved how creative many of our volunteers were and the way they utilized that to raise funds.  One volunteer played a somewhat usual instrument (I can't remember the exact one - think klezmer or something along the lines) with a band and they would do little concerts wherever they could.

One Friday night a few weeks before our big fundraising walk, this volunteer played a concert at a local joint - nothing fancy at all.  I went down to see him play.    Like everyone else, I paid my entrance fee (plus a bit more to help the cause), had a few beers and enjoyed myself.  What really struck me was that the CEO of the nonprofit came to watch as well.  He saw me, we chatted for a bit and he joined the rest of the audience.  I thought how cool! So nice and supportive of him to show up.

The next Monday I came in and opened up my email.  There was a lovely note from our CEO thanking me for showing up and sharing how grateful he was for my being at the concert.  Wow!  Three or four quick simple lines expressing gratitude for something I hadn't even thought about much.   

I share all this not to highlight what I did (attending the concert) but rather what the CEO did.  As leaders, it's very easy to get lost in our titles, in the process, in the hierarchy and all of the rest of the trappings of leadership.  But not for this fine leader.  It might have taken him all of three minutes to write that email but the impact of it - as you can see since you're reading about it - will hopefully send endless ripples of positivity out there.