First of all, it’s so good to see everybody. I can’t say that the waking up part of my Wednesday’s is always a pleasure, but walking into this communal space, seeing all of the faces, getting the head nods and high fives, having the connected conversations, and of course doing business – it’s all a genuine pleasure. I hope it was a great week off and a positive official close to Summer.
On a more somber note, today is 9.11. It’s remarkable that it’s been eighteen years since that awful day – and the events that left a mark on this city, and our country. Incredulous that almost 3,000 lives were lost in those attacks, and literally a countless number of people impacted – both physically, as well as mentally and emotionally. It was actually on a Tues, but people boarded those planes only just later than an hour from now, and the two major crashes were at 8:46am and 9:03am.
Let’s have a moment of silence in honor of it all, and then I’ll attempt to bring a message that will hopefully help fortify us to move into this meeting and this day. Let’s pause.
Thanks for that. For being with that.
So for those of you who like me, lived or worked in the city, you may remember the initial shock, slowness, and dark nature of that time. There were wounds of many kinds.
But you hopefully also remember that despite the intentions of our adversaries to pull us apart, there was a unification – a coming together.
There was a reminder of our similarities. Our common goals, our strengths, our ability to both be support and be supported.
And so that’s what I want to bring into this room today. The reminder that we are a community. That we all want the same things – to live, and grow, and thrive. In our businesses of course, and in our lives.
We track engagement. And we are engaged. We make requests. We make referrals – even without being asked. We learn from each other. We respect each other. We create space for each other. We listen to and respond to each other.
Let’s all remember with gratitude that there were those who came before us, and there will be those who come after us.
But right here, right now, we are together.
And we keep elevating.
