I had a call with one of our great outside counsels today. We had only 30 minutes & LOTS to cover; and we're both very busy these days.
I knew from before that his little son (and by extension, their whole family) was in the middle of fighting against a terrible & scary disease.
Despite all we had to cover, the time pressure, and stresses of work - we spent the first 20 minutes of the call talking about his experience, his son's experience, and how their family is doing.
It was so wonderful to catch up about that. And once we were caught up, we covered the rest of the "work" issues in a breeze -- because we were on the same page now.
Never forget why it is that we do all these things. As my sister always says, we work to live, not the other way around.
Sometimes we're tempted - under time pressure, under stress - to forgo the all-important work of building, maintaining, and pruning relationships.
But remember: That approach doesn't save time; in the long run, building, maintaining, and pruning relationships is an INVESTMENT, which always pays off; in the form of more time, better work product, and elevated happiness.
Never forget *why* it is that we do all these things!
