I intended to start this year with a post about what might be coming in 2025, filled with enthusiasm and excitement. Instead, with the passing of a friend, I want to write a few words about remembering the important people in our working lives and what makes them important.
Over my career I've met a lot of people - some have been great at what they do. The people I remember are the ones who are more than competent, they are decent, authentic and overall nice individuals. "Nice" can sometimes be a little derogatory - a substitute for anything more positive to say. But, for me, the people who properly exemplify "nice" show off the traits we claim we value the highest. They encourage and provide positivity. They create non-judgemental space, while offering constructive feedback. They support without coddling. They make time for people and help build up those around them, usually managing to do so without making themselves the centre of attention. They usually do this somewhat unconsciously - it is their natural way to help, build and encourage. Nice people have a positive impact on their world.
Truly nice people are rare, but they are out there and should be valued. Even more so, we should value the people who remember those who have passed out their immediate sphere (say, changed job or moved away) and keep those connections going. A friend of mine refers to these folk as "glue people" - people who bring others together, often with as simple a thought process as "you're a decent person who has a problem, I remember person X who could probably solve it - you should talk". In this world of networking and personal brand, these glue people are surprisingly rare and those who do it authentically and honestly (ie not attempting to become some kind of power broker) are even rarer. They help hold extended groups together and create new connections through truthful endorsement and recommendations and lots of people owe personal and professional change and development to them - often without even realising it. We are collectively poorer when we lose them.
I don't like naming individuals on this blog, especially when I know they can't ever respond or correct or ask me to take it down, so I'm not going to do this today but I know we have lost someone decent, authentic and nice and I know they have made a huge difference to my life, and the lives of others. We may not fully recognise it. Frankly, this person probably didn't realise it either and that is both wonderful and intensely sad.
Life is short and frail. I'm starting this year thinking about who I want to be, and what I'd like people to remember me for.
