First Days

<p><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTOdxwGVq2w3DrUE2Ausn7YVXbt41zHjQLT4KKHn52gcSKy1b3ae94xhO5tGKoDU7xWj8og6c-TsQQ2S9g7mJ6OHo8LyGPOzsjzDumKWzjAexUMdnTxnBlBW9Y513L9Zyak-PX_5R48c1vuu9oTfsjQTWEzSFP2DeUzvT35pgIE9zdmEQlNfrRM30/s900/Carrington%20Bowles%20-%20The%20Comical%20Hotch%20Potch,%20or%20the%20Alphabet%20Turned%20Posture%20Maker.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="900" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTOdxwGVq2w3DrUE2Ausn7YVXbt41zHjQLT4KKHn52gcSKy1b3ae94xhO5tGKoDU7xWj8og6c-TsQQ2S9g7mJ6OHo8LyGPOzsjzDumKWzjAexUMdnTxnBlBW9Y513L9Zyak-PX_5R48c1vuu9oTfsjQTWEzSFP2DeUzvT35pgIE9zdmEQlNfrRM30/w640-h456/Carrington%20Bowles%20-%20The%20Comical%20Hotch%20Potch,%20or%20the%20Alphabet%20Turned%20Posture%20Maker.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Comical Hotch-Potch, or the Alphabet turn’d Posture-Maker by Carrington Bowles, 1782 (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Comical_Hotch_Potch,_or_The_Alphabet_turn%27d_Posture-Master,_1782.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> - public domain)</span></p><div class="preformatted-block" style="text-align: left;"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="preformatted-block"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last.”</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1911</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>There’s something about First Days, whether it’s the first day of school or the first day of a new job.</p><p>It seems to me that there’s an opportunity there for leaders, as we tend to be more wide-eyed and impressionable on such exciting days.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Do you remember the anticipation of that first day of school when you were a child?</p><p>That feeling of excitement (maybe dread for some!) that came with back-to-school shopping in office supply stores, picking out new clothes, and counting the hours until you'd be back in school with your friends again.</p><p>Or of getting out of bed on a late summer morning, as you prepare for that first day of school, with the air fresh and cool. You’d be so excited for that first day that you’d rouse yourself early without an alarm, scarf down a bowl of cereal, and rush out the door to meet up with friends.</p><p>You might stand at the bus stop as the sun peaked over the treetops, still feeling a little tired and rubbing your eyes, holding your metal lunchbox (remember that beauty you picked out that came with a matching thermos?), talking with other kids from your neighborhood.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Those are powerful memories.</p><p>Now consider how you make the first day of work special for your new hires. </p><p>Do you just give them a laptop and show them the intranet, or are you making it feel as unique and special as it must feel to them?</p><p>I was rereading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s speech to the Harvard chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, titled “<a href="http://digitalemerson.wsulibs.wsu.edu/exhibits/show/text/the-american-scholar" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The American Scholar</a>,” delivered in 1837. He begins by referencing “the recommencement of our literary year” — i.e., the school year.</p><p>If we’re lifelong learners—students beyond the walls of the academy—the “literary year” for us is one that begins on January 1 and ends on December 31. It is with us always. It is life.</p><p></p><p>While we’re at it, why only make the first day a special one? Why shouldn’t we <strong>inspire</strong> our team constantly?</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%checkout_url%%","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null,"belowTheFold":true}"><br /></p><p></p><hr /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read become luminous with manifold allusion.”</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1837</em></div></em><p></p><hr /><h2><br /></h2><h2>Inspiration</h2><p>We can find inspiration everywhere. In every book we read, in every walk we take.</p><p>This isn’t about removing ourselves from our current state of thinking, but putting our problems and stresses in the back of our minds temporarily, to alleviate some of the burden.</p><p>It’s then that insights and analogies pop up, when we refocus from the challenges at hand to dive into things more intellectual or entertaining.</p><p><strong>In finding our inspiration, we can then inspire others</strong>. For that is what will keep them engaged far more than motivation; making them feel as if it’s that First Day again.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Emerson said that we pass through different stages as we age. In the last five years or so, I’ve felt this metamorphosis happening in myself; I’ve been more interested in helping people become the best humans they can be and focusing on <strong>relationships</strong> rather than <strong>transactions</strong>.</p><p>Emerson laid out these changes:</p><blockquote><p>“Historically, there is thought to be a difference in the ideas which predominate over successive epochs, and there are data for marking the genius of the Classic, of the Romantic, and now of the Reflective or Philosophical age… I believe each individual passes through all three. The boy is a Greek; the youth, romantic; the adult, reflective.”</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Now consider that in terms of the tenure of your employees. We rarely have the luxury of decades-long employees any more, but that progression of enthusiasm to self-awareness still applies over a shorter timeframe.</p><p>Your longer-term team members might help recreate the excitement they remember. With your encouragement and confidence, they might feel inspired to take responsibility for the next wave coming through.</p><p>The magic of First Days is hard to recapture. But if we work toward inspiring each other, we might have some semblance of it.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s800/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="clear: left; color: #007abe; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><hr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div class="preformatted-block" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><h4 style="font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members get extras, such as exclusive essays and monthly leadership calls.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><center><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1097" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></center></h4></div>

First Days

The Comical Hotch-Potch, or the Alphabet turn’d Posture-Maker by Carrington Bowles, 1782 ( Wikipedia  - public domain) “Education never end...

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Stop Fearing Failure

<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlLkgE2ROPdrFZc3UpxWzsF4QBz9AaGHnKHQlwjLWuFFXiyh4Bqrmret-Q-pNVVqX9kSRY62QxuAMUE8RbrIDziMUduNQcvdx1hx1Mw3-ZiFyooAwlamW9ugbH_lQF_5uBiSsJKRNcEdlc4x5r-iNoMYE2dfNhSdo3C91o3eQLipb-Suf7SF1JJU9/s2266/William%20Bradford%20-%20Shipwreck%20off%20the%20Coast%20of%20Nantucket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1407" data-original-width="2266" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlLkgE2ROPdrFZc3UpxWzsF4QBz9AaGHnKHQlwjLWuFFXiyh4Bqrmret-Q-pNVVqX9kSRY62QxuAMUE8RbrIDziMUduNQcvdx1hx1Mw3-ZiFyooAwlamW9ugbH_lQF_5uBiSsJKRNcEdlc4x5r-iNoMYE2dfNhSdo3C91o3eQLipb-Suf7SF1JJU9/w640-h398/William%20Bradford%20-%20Shipwreck%20off%20the%20Coast%20of%20Nantucket.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Shipwreck off Nantucket (Wreck off Nantucket after a Storm)</i> by William Bradford, c. 1860-61 (<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10209" target="_blank">The Met</a> - public domain)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“If we should fail?”</em></strong></div><strong><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“We fail?</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>But screw your courage to the sticking-place,</em></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>And we’ll not fail.”</em></strong></div></em></strong><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— William Shakespeare, 1606</em> <em>(Macbeth)</em></div></em><p></p><p><br /></p><p>One of the shows I’ve enjoyed recently on HBO Max is <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10975574/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Julia</em></strong></a>, a limited-run series that follows Julia Child’s success as author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3dP0hFP" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Mastering the Art of French Cooking</em></strong></a>.</p><p>We find her at a crossroads, as her husband Paul has been recalled from diplomatic service in Europe, and the two return to America and settle in Cambridge. The series follows her debut on television and the struggles with more traditional-minded executives to create the show she wanted.</p><p>In doing so, she’s creating something brand new — a new genre of television. There was no playbook, no set of standards. It could be a flop or a major success.</p><p>But Julia was fearless. Fearless in the same way she was in the kitchen.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Over time, one of her hallmarks was the mistakes she’d make on camera; her show was live-to-tape, meaning there weren’t parts edited out after she finished recording. She powered through for a half-hour, mistakes and all.</p><p>And there’s a lesson there.</p><p>In this clip from her PBS show, Julia Child takes us to task for what she calls “the awful American syndrome of fear of failure,” and provides some advice not just for leaders, but for anyone:</p><br /><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T0cAGOgJH3c" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">She said, </p><blockquote><p><strong>“If you’re going to have a sense of fear of failure, you’re just never going to learn how to cook. Because cooking is, well, lots of it. It’s one failure after another and that’s how you finally learn.”</strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>There’s so much wisdom there. From a cooking show, no less.</p><p>It reminds me of another bit of wisdom I came across lately — also on HBO Max (don’t take me for a couch potato; I looked this up <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/a-larger-way-of-looking-at-leadership" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">after David McCullough’s death</a>). </p><p>Not only was McCullough a gifted writer, but he was also a painter. He began painting while in college and found it a valuable outlet for many years.</p><p>But he couldn’t learn how to paint simply by watching others.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“The great thing about the arts is that you can only learn by doing it. You can’t learn how to play the piano by reading a book about how to play the piano. You can’t learn to paint without painting. You have to do it.”</em></strong></div><strong><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em> — David McCullough, 2008</em></div></em></strong><p></p><hr /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%share_url%%","text":"Share","action":null,"class":null,"belowTheFold":true}"><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Anything we choose to pursue requires us to practice.</p><p>We will all fail on our journey to excellence. It’s part of what it means to be human.</p><p>Along the way, we’ll accumulate scars: scraped knees from learning to ride a bike, the burning embarrassment of fumbling a ball in front of a crowd, or the horror of dropping a carefully-prepared dish at a dinner party.</p><p>But think about those situations. You don’t retain the failure as much as you do the success.</p><p>Do you remember the injured knee? No, you remember the triumph of riding down the sidewalk without training wheels or a parent steadying you.</p><p>Do you keep the terrible play at the top of your mind? No, you return to the touchdowns.</p><p>Do you replay the meal splattering all over the kitchen? No, you recall the delicious meals and conversations that have taken place around your table.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><hr /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“I think without question the hardest single thing to do in a sport is to hit a baseball. A .300 hitter, that rarest of breeds these days, goes through life with the certainty that he will fail at his job seven out of ten times.”</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Ted Williams, 1969</em></div></em><p></p><hr /><p><br /></p><p>So why run from failure?</p><p>The real fear should be the fear of not trying at all.</p><p></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s800/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="clear: left; color: #007abe; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><p><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><hr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div class="preformatted-block" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><h4 style="font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members get extras, such as exclusive essays and monthly leadership calls.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><center><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1276" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></center></h4></div><p><br /></p>

Stop Fearing Failure

Shipwreck off Nantucket (Wreck off Nantucket after a Storm) by William Bradford, c. 1860-61 ( The Met - public domain)   “If we should fai...

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Leadership and Contintuity

<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3t6DDYtd7J0o0UrhrtVF6WJ5EZMSNiRsj_Pue65Jsc68Hc4QDgdmAZwjZKyID_E3lRL5VtTU2o4rMURvgwpuP-IlEDcSz9GUzSUGJbiAyWG-ZewJ6VnsRc9kwlD3WUKBw6HJdWXAcjnbpQChkjXPDtUjH0JUuckWNb4iv82UayWMX5gcIcNTyyK1/s1874/National%20Archives.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1874" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS3t6DDYtd7J0o0UrhrtVF6WJ5EZMSNiRsj_Pue65Jsc68Hc4QDgdmAZwjZKyID_E3lRL5VtTU2o4rMURvgwpuP-IlEDcSz9GUzSUGJbiAyWG-ZewJ6VnsRc9kwlD3WUKBw6HJdWXAcjnbpQChkjXPDtUjH0JUuckWNb4iv82UayWMX5gcIcNTyyK1/w640-h492/National%20Archives.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photograph of the National Archives Building Constitution Avenue Entrance Portico and Pediment </i>(<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7820509" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog</a> - unrestricted use)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><em><br /></em></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers.”</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Daniel Boorstin</em></div></em><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>In the not-so-distant past, employees could expect to spend decades—even entire careers—at the same company. Doing so would not only build up a sizeable pension, but would also contribute to institutional memory.</p><p>But now, with fewer opportunities to climb the ladder vertically, no company-sponsored pensions, and a decided lack of loyalty from corporations, we’re in an age when people job hop and company hop with increasing frequency.</p><p>These circumstances have harmed the institutional memory of countless organizations, and leaders must guard against it.</p><p>There are three ways leaders can address this fading history amid high employee turnover.</p><p>But first, let’s take a look at a rather sleepy yet essential institution.</p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></p><hr /><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“We are all part of a larger stream of events. We are all the beneficiaries of those who have gone before us.”</em></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— David McCullough, 1998</em></div></em><p></p><hr /><br /><h2><strong>NARA</strong></h2><p>The National Archives and Record Administration was established by Congress in 1934. Prior to that, each branch and agency of the U.S. government was responsible for maintaining its own documents, which often resulted in the loss and destruction of records.</p><p>Considering that the founding fathers were aware of classical history, they were likely aware of the Great Library at Alexandria, which was destroyed by neglect and siege in ancient times. Yet it took 150 years beyond the country’s founding to establish such an institution.</p><p>Presidential records were something of an anomaly, though. It wasn’t until the 1978 Presidential Records Act that they were designated by law to belong to the American people. Presidential historian <a href="https://lindsaychervinsky.substack.com/p/whats-the-deal-with-presidential" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Lindsay Chervinsky has an excellent summary</a>.</p><p><br /></p><h2 data-pm-slice="1 1 []"></h2><hr /><h2><strong>Form Meets Function</strong></h2><p>Washington, DC is a city of symbolism, and nowhere is that more apparent than a section of the city called the Federal Triangle, formed by Constitution Ave., Pennsylvania Ave., and E Street.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 1456w" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":874,"width":1280,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true}" height="437" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2e06ed88-80c3-48e6-84a2-0697fb2d96a0_1280x874.jpeg 1456w" width="640" /></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Seven of the buildings were built in the 1930s by the federal government under what has been called “one of the greatest building projects ever undertaken.”</p><p>Fittingly, the Federal Triangle was the subject of a capstone paper I wrote as a classics major in college. As a matter of fact, I still have it:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":896,"width":681,"resizeWidth":485,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true}" height="400" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 1456w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="304" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="text-align: left;">Receiving an 'A' on my paper from the esteemed </em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyer_Reinhold" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><em>Meyer Reinhold</em></a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="image2-inset" style="text-align: center;"><picture><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac4b4a73-a1c4-419e-a24c-267cb1aaef36_681x896.jpeg 1456w" type="image/webp"></source></picture><div></div></div><figcaption class="image-caption"><br /></figcaption></figure></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><p>The National Archives Building houses the records of our national government, and its structure and architecture are befitting of its purpose.</p><p>But beyond the purpose, the design and ornamentation of the building holds a number of symbolic meanings that should remind us of why we value the preservation of history.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><hr /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“The ties that bind the lives of our people in one indissoluble union are perpetuated in the archives of our government and to their custody this building is dedicated.”</em></strong></div><strong><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— Herbert Hoover, 1933</em></div></em></strong><p></p><hr /><h2><strong><br /></strong></h2><h2><strong>Pedimentary Design</strong></h2><p>The building itself was designed by John Russell Pope, in the style of Roman temples: eighteen Corinthian columns support the north and south façades and their pediments; a series of steps leads up to the entrance; it is located halfway between the Capitol and the Treasury building on the nation's ceremonial route, much as the temples were constructed in the Roman Forum.</p><p>But the pediments — the triangular upper part of the front of a classical building —contain details that tell a story about the importance of record keeping.</p><p><br /></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":773,"width":1444,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true}" height="342" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 1456w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2010630300/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><em>The Recorder of the Archives</em></a><span style="text-align: left;"> (Library of Congress)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="image2-inset" style="text-align: center;"><picture><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5e7a27b0-1434-42db-899b-7b7f0c0c8415_1444x773.jpeg 1456w" type="image/webp"></source></picture><div></div></div><figcaption class="image-caption"><br /></figcaption></figure></div><p>The south pediment, entitled <strong><em>The Recorder of the Archives</em></strong>, has been called the finest sculptured pediment in Washington.</p><p>The central figure is a seated Jupiter-like figure with a book on his lap and keys in his hand; this is the book in which all documents are recorded and the keys to the records. Two males stand on either side of the Recorder, as receivers of the documents, and are in turn flanked by females and depictions of Pegasus, symbolic of inspiration.</p><p>Just past these on either side are triads of two men and a woman, collecting records of lesser importance; dogs are in the corners, symbolic of guardianship.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg","fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":403,"width":1280,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":true}" height="202" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 1456w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Destiny_-_pediment.JPG" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><em>Destiny</em></a><span style="text-align: left;"> (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><picture style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb8b866-318b-4b43-a314-1090d85a014f_1280x403.jpeg 1456w" type="image/webp"></source></picture></div><div class="image2-inset"><div></div></div><figcaption class="image-caption"><br /></figcaption></figure></div><p>The north pediment is called <strong><em>Destiny</em></strong>, dominated by a central figure representing destiny and flanked by eagles mounted upon the fasces, symbolizing unity.</p><p>There are winged genii on either side, which embody “Bearers of the Fire of Patriotism.” On the left, a female is carrying branches of olive and palm trees, representing peace and victory. Then at the right of the central group, “The Arts of War” are shown as warrior mounted upon a steed and a warrior carrying the swords of enemies.</p><p>Following this on the right is “The Romance of History,” shown as two philosophers brooding over a crowned skull and a kneeling figure and child with the scroll of History.</p><p>Then, on the left, four figures represent “The Song of Achievement,” and griffins on either end are guarding a casket of documents and a sealed book, symbolizing “Guardians of the Secrets of the Archives.”</p><p>In sum, the external ornamentation of the National Archives tells a story about the importance of recording and preserving our history, so future generations may learn from our successes — and our mistakes.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><h2><strong>Leaders and Continuity</strong></h2><p>It’s no easy task to lead a company with high turnover. The longer your team is with you, the easier it is for them to accomplish tasks because they’re familiar with the people, processes and tools that make it possible.</p><p>Beyond the financial cost of recruiting and training new employees, there is a price paid by morale and the long-term survival of organization.</p><p>How can leaders ensure continuity at their organizations amid the reality of employee turnover?</p><p><br /></p><h3><strong>1. Emphasize Storytelling</strong></h3><p> One of the most powerful tools any leader has in their arsenal is storytelling. Homer’s epic poems were first told orally, and by regularly sharing stories we retain consistency in how we talk about ourselves.</p><p>It could be an origin story, a tale about the biggest sale we ever made, or recounting how a customer shared how we impacted their life. With stories come emotions, and those emotions carry how we retain and tell those stories, again and again.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h3><strong>2. Ensure Documentation</strong></h3><p>The <em>Iliad</em> and the <em>Odyssey</em> began as oral stories, but they were eventually recorded for posterity, so that even if the chain of verbal storytelling was broken, there would be a documented record of them.</p><p>Create documentation processes and even place people in charge of the retention of stories and processes. When I worked at Ford, the corporate historian and corporate archivists were essential figures in ensuring that company artifacts and mythos were preserved and discussed.</p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Never, never, mess with archivists—they keep meticulous records.” — <a href="https://twitter.com/HC_Richardson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HC_Richardson</a> <a href="https://t.co/28tZsjhCw6">pic.twitter.com/28tZsjhCw6</a></p>— Scott Monty (@ScottMonty) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMonty/status/1557371951861096450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2022</a></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><h3><strong>3. Focus on Culture</strong></h3><p>Aside from physical artifacts, the longest-lasting element of our institutions is their culture. When we hire the right people, communicate our vision and plans clearly, and emphasize the human element of our businesses, we create cultures that will outlast us.</p><p>Rishad Tobaccowala’s latest newsletter captures the essence of <a href="https://rishad.substack.com/p/de-bossification" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">why we need to shift our culture from boss to leader</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"></p><hr /><p><br />It’s fitting that we should conclude with one last look at the National Archives.</p><p>The statues that flank the porticoes are <strong><em>The Past</em></strong> and <strong><em>The Future</em></strong> on the north, inscribed with “Study the past if you would divine the future,” and “What is past is prologue.”</p><p>On the south, we find <strong><em>Guardianship</em></strong>, with Thomas Jefferson’s well-known quote: “Eternal vigilance is the price of history.”</p><p>But it is the final statue, <strong><em>Heritage</em></strong>, that reminds us why leaders should pay heed to preserving and protecting our history:</p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future.”</em></strong></h2><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When we understand our past, we create an opportunity for consistency and continuity — the basis of trust.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; 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Leadership and Contintuity

Photograph of the National Archives Building Constitution Avenue Entrance Portico and Pediment ( National Archives Catalog - unrestricted u...

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A Larger Way of Looking at Leadership

<p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajvoImeY5uEt6l6y0G45LOXn8JNu6ABqHSlixLFEAA4PVbDVpIsdzSOtGwcvH9x8FgUY0A4rFWN14jCeO3_zGEFwysdMb2PMlfvq3H61nTgTg4JhgSE4GVDe_ugWlVPGB7QNl6dNoW5nifCc_Q7Al-vr9-UQ_LG6cGAQycctG9eMcKXubGSfMTyv0/s2048/Shawn%20Miller%20-%20Library%20of%20Congress%20-%20David%20McCullough.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajvoImeY5uEt6l6y0G45LOXn8JNu6ABqHSlixLFEAA4PVbDVpIsdzSOtGwcvH9x8FgUY0A4rFWN14jCeO3_zGEFwysdMb2PMlfvq3H61nTgTg4JhgSE4GVDe_ugWlVPGB7QNl6dNoW5nifCc_Q7Al-vr9-UQ_LG6cGAQycctG9eMcKXubGSfMTyv0/w640-h426/Shawn%20Miller%20-%20Library%20of%20Congress%20-%20David%20McCullough.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;">David McCullough greets the Main Stage crowd at the National Book Festival, August 31, 2019</em><span style="text-align: left;">. (</span><a href="https://flic.kr/p/2hb5RC5" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Shawn Miller/Library of Congress</a><span style="text-align: left;"> - public domain)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><blockquote><em>“Public virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private Virtue, and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.”</em></blockquote></strong></div><em><div style="text-align: right;"><em>— John Adams, 1776</em></div></em><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“History teaches that character counts. Character above all.” — David McCullough, 1998</p>— Scott Monty (@ScottMonty) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMonty/status/1556682047023882241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label></div><p><br /></p><p>Why should leaders care about history?</p><p>It’s a question I ponder frequently, as I write this eclectic newsletter.</p><p>Readers like you know that this isn’t a standard “Four Ways Leaders Can Improve Performance” publication.</p><p>The death of David McCullough caused me again to consider why I beat this drum. And the answer is twofold:</p><p><strong>Stories and humanity.</strong></p><p><br /></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“History, I like to think, is a larger way of looking at life.” — David McCullough, 2017</p>— Scott Monty (@ScottMonty) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMonty/status/1556682049590788096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2022</a></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>In the 2008 documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210345/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Painting with Words</em></a>, McCullough recounted:</p><blockquote><p><strong><em>A friend of mine recently said, “Your books aren’t about history. They’re about life.” <br />And I thought, “Well, yeah, because that’s what history is. Life.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>And isn’t that what leadership is? Leadership is about working with people and helping them become the best they can be. </p><p>Dealing with the messiness of human nature, understanding others through empathy, and using stories to motivate and move people.</p><p>Leadership is inextricably linked with life. And therefore, the stories and examples we find in history help us apply those life lessons.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><blockquote><p><strong><em>“History is not about dates and quotes and obscure provisos. History is about life. About change. About consequences, cause and effect. It's about the mystery of human nature. The mystery of time.</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>“And it isn’t just about politics and the military and social issues, which is almost always the way it's taught. It’s about music and poetry, and drama and science, and medicine and money, and love.”</em></strong> </p></blockquote><p style="text-align: right;"><em>— David McCullough</em></p><hr /><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%share_url%%","text":"Share","action":null,"class":null}"><br /></p><p>When your employees show up to work, they don’t turn off their personal lives. They may be concerned about a child’s performance on a test, scheduling a doctor’s appointment for an elderly parent, dealing with relationship issues. All of this affects their performance at work.</p><p>And leaders ought to be aware of that and show their employees that they care about their lives.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap" data-attrs="{"url":"%%checkout_url%%","text":"Subscribe"}"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Ambition</strong></h2><p>In his biography <a href="https://amzn.to/3bHbnf7" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>John Adams</em></strong></a>, McCullough wrote about a visit Ralph Waldo Emerson made to Adams in Quincy, Massachusetts in the latter’s final year of his life in 1825.</p><p>Emerson recounted the visit and noted what Adams said to him:</p><blockquote><p><strong><em>“I would to God there were more ambition in the country,” by which he meant, “ambition of the laudable kind. To excel.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>We might call that conscientiousness, taking pride in your work, and a commitment to success.</p><p>Or perhaps it’s a commitment to virtue—to character.</p><p>Leaders are committed to the success of their team and know that they are judged based on their words and actions.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-conversation="none"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">One more quote — something all leaders should remember:<br /><br />“The lessons of history are innumerable, but one of the more obvious lessons, and one that we cannot forget or ignore, is that very seldom is anything of consequence accomplished alone.” — David McCullough, 2019</p>— Scott Monty (@ScottMonty) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMonty/status/1556693110218014721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>History will judge us.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><h2 data-pm-slice="1 1 []">One last thing…</h2><p>Last year, I wrote to David McCullough to ask if he’d join me for an interview on the <em>Timeless Leadership</em> podcast:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwLYoYXEQMts_42m-xSSNjWGITGlZAd2Wc4U2dx3OjzJ0ymdJ4hUHrD36D8AC55AbEm4yofHTh8ubIL4IcyYC5u_bRzkrIr5yYWf7HNGrJfPNGN97l89xEBvY65i9KnuXdxvtFJzclVPgUSrF2dz98jE9Xc1ztldsSTG3wVa7PrDS_kttHmRwnvXl/s2048/2021-04-30%20Letter%20to%20David%20McCullough.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1338" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwLYoYXEQMts_42m-xSSNjWGITGlZAd2Wc4U2dx3OjzJ0ymdJ4hUHrD36D8AC55AbEm4yofHTh8ubIL4IcyYC5u_bRzkrIr5yYWf7HNGrJfPNGN97l89xEBvY65i9KnuXdxvtFJzclVPgUSrF2dz98jE9Xc1ztldsSTG3wVa7PrDS_kttHmRwnvXl/w418-h640/2021-04-30%20Letter%20to%20David%20McCullough.png" width="418" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 2 []">His son wrote back, declining on his behalf.</p><blockquote><p>“David McCullough is not well enough to respond to your letter himself but he truly enjoyed it...he very much appreciates you having included his quotation and wishes you all the very best.”</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thanks and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s800/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="clear: left; color: #007abe; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="800" original="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYDYbukyH53KIKB6U6t_GHOJ_5Nuuwcln-Y26HswSGLcyDVRfIAnOiplWbdAM6bXbX_v9kfE_K83F7X2AWYyqzLWCMw0ma6mq3nuZ6Y3LrzwECJ44hLlgohAbTi8INFaZQgQDvwrx2SDv9-YzFW36Q7_0-rFBcresU64qiUwOo4jzED1e8HKfSSfo/s16000/Sig-Scott-Substack-Transparent.png" style="border: 0px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 95%; padding: 4px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out 0s;" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><hr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div class="preformatted-block" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><h4 style="font-family: "Open Sans", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members get extras, such as exclusive essays and monthly leadership calls.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join tens of thousands of others on this journey:</div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><center><iframe frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background: white; 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A Larger Way of Looking at Leadership

David McCullough greets the Main Stage crowd at the National Book Festival, August 31, 2019 . ( Shawn Miller/Library of Congress  - public d...

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