Good morning Lucky 62. It’s amazing to be standing up here in this room – in this capacity – for the last time. It’s the last meeting here at the Union Square Ballroom, and thus the last Education Piece. And last night, I was curious and I actually counted – I’ve done more than fifty of them here.
So to frame this meeting properly, let’s first take a moment and acknowledge the chapter for everything that went into… writing this chapter. In particular, I’d like to ask the following members to stand: founding members Andrew Kahner, Josh Doyle, Jeff Simon, Cliff Schneider, and yes Matt Long. Also anyone still in the room who has ever served on the MC, and especially our fearless and versatile leaders Amy Noelle, and Conrad Strabone.
It’s the end of an era. And it got me thinking about the way we do endings. Often times, endings happen *to* us. Sadly, that can look like people dying. Or getting let go from a position. Or losing a client. And sometimes it looks like a positive thing. We graduate from school, or choose to transition careers – right Amy? We move on to greener pastures. We move to different cities or different jobs, but even then it’s often a one off going away party and then certain aspects fade into the tableau of memory. Even if there is some choice in the change, we often experience very little control about how it goes, or maybe we shift focus to the new future and don’t really care.
I’m here to say that it doesn’t have to go that way. That we can complete intentionally – that there is value in a powerful ending.
One place to look is leaving value in your wake. Consider the idea of leaving a client or organization or team better at the end of the relationship. Even if and when the time comes to move on from NYC, think about how you could leave your mark and leave us better, and not just move on to what’s next. It’s also about doing complete work. To make sure we’ve said what’s needed to be said and have done all that’s needed to be done.
This requires something of us. It creates the need to relate to ourselves as valuable, capable, powerful. And for some that can be confronting. And so it’s easier to just ghost or fade away. But making choices to leave, like we’re all doing today – and I’m sure we’re all excited about what’s to come in our new home at Rosa Mexicana – opens up possibility. Not only for what’s in our rear view mirrors but also for who we get to be when we get to the nextchapter.
We can’t always control how it goes, but we can control our role in it all. So the next time life presents an ending for you, think about how you can create it on purpose.
Anyone can leave. But it takes something to do it with intention, to make a difference, to have an impact, to create a powerful ending.
I invite us to bring our value and our intention to today’s commercials. Practice making an impact, really saying the thing that will make the difference, the thing we’ll all remember.
Today let’s leave on a high note. And take that into what’s next.
