WING TIPS

Last week was a pretty good week for me and my book for two reasons. First, my publisher informed me that my work, The Flight to Excellence: Soaring to New Heights in Business and Life, had made the Best Seller’s list in three categories at Amazon. Is that a big deal? No, but nice to have. I once congratulated a friend whose book had made the New York Times Best Seller’s list. He told me it was no big deal. I thought at the time, “It’s not if you have it.” Such is life.

I am a 2006 alumnus of Leadership Atlanta, the oldest continuously running leadership training program of its type in the country. I have continued to support the organization financially and by volunteering to participate in various events. One of those events is the weekend retreat for the new incoming class.

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Life-Changing

This past weekend was the retreat for the new class, and I, and many alumni, were there to help with the logistics and activities. A fellow graduate and I were riding in a golf cart, moving some supplies, when he told me that he had really enjoyed my book and that it had changed his life.

I could understand how he might have enjoyed some of the stories in the book but was very surprised at the “changed his life” statement because he is a very successful professional. I said as much to him, and he began to elaborate, giving me several examples of things from the book that he had already implemented and other things that he would be doing in the future. He said that some of the concepts were simple, but he had never really focused on doing them until reading the book. We briefly chatted more about what he was doing before we were both off on other assignments.

And that was the second and more important good thing for me and the book. I felt good about having helped someone move forward in his life, especially someone who I would have assumed needed little help. It justified for me why I had written the book, to help anyone at any stage of their careers or life, Soar to New Heights in Business and Life.

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