How quickly we forget!
“No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.” Today we are documenting more things than ever in human history. Globally, we are capturing 61,400 photos per second and there are approximately 14.3 trillion photos in existence. That’s not to mention the texts, emails, blogs, and podcasts that are capturing even more moments in time. It is interesting to consider that with the number of “memories” being created every day that it is practically impossible to go back and revisit them. Yes, we have an innate desire to capture moments and memories, but ironically, we have very little time or intention to ever really remember anything.
You might want to chalk this up to the modern pace of life, but humans have historically had a hard time remembering things from generation to generation. I mean how many people alive today really understand the horrors of the world wars from just a 100 years ago? It’s so easy to frame our existence only in terms of our present circumstances. We forget that we survived that close call in a car collision without serious injury. We forget the beautiful things about people that made us fall in love with them. We forget the last pay raise and bonus that was more than we expected. Instead, we lament the new lines on our face, we only see the faults in our significant other and wonder when we are finally going to hit that next “magic number” with our take home pay.
If you are going to have long term success as a leader, it is critical to keep important memories alive in the hearts of your organization. It is good for our souls to remember the goodness in our life. Good memories can restore and inspire us, especially in difficult stretches of the journey. Have you ever been in low place in life and started swiping through photos from your last vacation or family gathering? Memories can lift us out of the depths and help us gain some much-needed perspective when our emotions in the present are working against us.
Even after eighteen years of running our own company, my partner and I will sit and talk about our first day of business. Back when it was only something that existed on paper, before we even had an address or a desk to sit at, it was just me and Bill walking into a bakery in Arkansas deciding what would be our first order of business. We didn’t have enough money to buy breakfast, so we finished up coffee and went to buy a couple of cell phones. We got phone numbers that are only one digit apart, and I think about that every time I give out my phone number to this day. It seems like such an ordinary thing, but I can’t say my phone number out loud without thinking about the first day of our business. It brings me perspective and a moment of wistful joy, because I know whatever I am facing in the moment is only a result of the beautiful journey that started from the humblest of beginnings.
Take five minutes and consider, when is the last time I led myself and my organization down memory lane? Am I celebrating enough as leader so that we don’t forget where we’ve been and what we’ve been through?
As the leader you must occasionally take the time to stop and remember the moments that have shaped journey that has brought you this far. It is important for your organization to relive the great triumphs of the past and we all need to be reminded that the reality of our existence is not just our feelings in a present moment. When you organization is struggling, when times are hard, gather your team for a time of memory to stir the hearts of the organization you lead. With a fresh look at the past, we can face future with the confidence that new success awaits on the journey ahead.
