This makes sense. I remember when my father died 4 years ago in two weeks, it changed me forever. But through the grace of God and lots of counseling, that event has spurred me and our family to a deeper place of reliance, relationship and creativity.

Leaders Create Meaning:

“According to Bennis and Thomas, one key difference between lifetime leaders and ‘nonleaders’ lies in how they respond to the defining moments they experience. ‘Leaders create meaning out of events and relationships that devastate nonleaders,’ they write.

We don’t always know it when we’re in the middle of a defining moment; sometimes, the importance of these experiences can only be seen in retrospect. Either way, it is up to us to decide how they are going to affect us and our leadership. As Aldous Huxley said, ‘Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.'”