Ulysses

Fellow Labourers-

Consider with me this poem from Alfred Lord Tennyson. As you are aware a poem can paint a thousand picture in your minds eye. My thousand picture may be different from yours and some may even coincide, but that does not make one superior to the other-does it? This section of the poem stirs something in me:


"Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are,
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

From these lines I see in my mind's eye a task of preparing those who should come after me. I see the need to be an authentic leader. And, if I may borrow the words of Bill George, former Chairman and CEO, Medtronic, "We need leaders who lead with purpose, values, and integrity and who are good stewards of the legacy they inherited from their predecessors. We need leaders who build enduring organizations, motivate their employees to provide superior customer service, and create long-term value for shareholders."

Nunc aut nunquam

Robert Stewart