Your Net-Work is Your Net Worth

Parent email

"𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 (𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥) 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩."

Got this👆 last week.

It was one of many such responses to some recent posts and emails about my leadership struggle of a decade ago.

People (my family in particular) often ask me (usually with a clear tone of annoyance) "Why do you have to share that with the world?"

The answer to that, like most things, is complicated.

But one thing I know for sure is that, without fail...

every time that I share my story...

the pain and the suffering as well as the comeback and success...

multiple people tell me how inspired, motivated, uplifted, and empowered they feel.

I also get notes like this, which inspire, motivate, uplift, and empower ME:

"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵! 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

Our network is our net worth.

And that "worth" includes support, encouragement, advice, feedback, and everything else that helps us grow.

Surround yourself with good people.

Show up in support for them.

And allow them to support you.

We're in this together.