Filed under: Auckland, Australia, Authenticity, Colenso, Colleagues, Creativity, Culture, Death, Friendship, Loyalty, Marketing, Relationships, Relevance, Reputation, Resonance, Respect
This last week, I lost 2 brilliant people in my life.
While one was, sadly, expected – due to their long battle with cancer – the other was the result of a terrible, terrible accident.
I had spent the day with them last Monday and even though we’d not known each other too long, we clicked. It’s rare enough to find that connection with someone at the best of time – even more so when that person is a client.
But they were special and everyone felt it.
Supportive, encouraging and deeply committed to doing the best thing, not the easiest.
I actually wrote to her last Wednesday to tell her the huge impression she had made on her team, our team and me. I don’t know why I did it, I just felt compelled to … and she responded the following day with genuine shock and gratitude.
Shock that people felt that way about her. Grateful that someone had told her that they do.
We were due to catch up later this week and talk about her impending trip to NZ to visit us at Colenso but then on Sunday, we heard the worst possible news and we – like many others in the industry – were left shaken, upset and very, very sad.
While I’d do anything to change the outcome of this tragic story, I am incredibly grateful I sent that note to her.
That she saw it and understood what we saw – and felt – in her.
While both people I lost last week were very different people, there were some similarities.
Both were called Lisa for a start and both were like those comets you occasionally see flying across the night sky. Burning so brightly, but for all too brief a time. But boy … so, so bright.
My deepest sympathies go out to their families, colleagues and all those people impacted by their remarkable, talented, infectious spirit. Of which I am one of them.
Rx