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Get Your Mind Out Of The Gutters

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: I'm an inspirational leader, and that's because I'm an inspired person. Being inspired is a prerequisite to inspiring others - a fact of which I often remind my clients. So whether it's in the board room, on the shop floor, in your business, or out in your father-in-law's back yard, you should look for inspiration anywhere you can find it. If you didn't have the opportunity today to get dirty helping an old man clean out his roof gutters, I feel sorry for you. Because it did me a world of good....

Get Your Mind Out Of The Gutters

For Inspiration, Get Your Hands Dirty Cleaning Gutters For Somebody It's true, I was a muddy, bloody mess when it was finally over. My fingers were frozen, and the cheap rubber gloves I'd acquired for the occasion were torn to dirty yellow tatters. But I felt great. I felt inspired. The black Colorado mud and the little bit of dried blood from a couple of scrapes with inhospitable evergreen bushes? Those washed right off. But the inspiration, I'm happy to report, still lingers with me.

I got the call a couple days ago. My wife, who's out of town at a business convention, told me she'd spoken with her 90-year-old father and learned the old guy was determined to climb his ladder and clean out his roof gutters today, since the weather forecast called for warmth and sunshine. This troubled her; Dad can't see all that well anymore, his balance isn't what it used to be, and he'd fallen off his roof (breaking his wrist) before. It's a task that would be dangerous for a man half his age, with good eyesight and balance (a guy like me, for instance). So could I call Dad? Could I tell him I'd be over Thursday to clean out the gutters for him, and try to keep him from killing himself?

Sure.

So I called, and my father-in-law reacted the way he always does. "Aw, Hell, I can do it myself, you don't need to come over here. Did your wife put you up to this?" "No, or course not," I kidded, "I came up with the idea out of the clear blue. I'm in desperate need of something to do Thursday morning... but I will need supervision." Truth to tell, today's schedule was pretty busy, starting at oh-dark-hundred with an early meeting with a client. But he didn't need to know all that.

"Aw, Hell."

By mid-morning, fueled by my third cup of java, I was up on the ladder, scooping pawfulls of leafy-muddy gunk out of my in-laws' roof gutters. Dad worked with me, helping to steady the ladder as necessary, and reminding me often that the gutters didn't need to be "sparkling clean." And thanking me, profusely, again and again.

In a couple hours, it was over, and while I had somehow managed to miss him on every downward toss of a handful of gutter muck, I had a good deal of the stuff on myself. And more meetings to which I needed to make my way. So I bid Mom and Dad farewell, ran home to grab a shower, and got back to my regularly-scheduled day.

I wouldn't say my father-in-law and I have an exact match in our thinking and values, but the old guy inspires me - and today, I told him so. At one point, he grudgingly admitted that his ladder-climbing days were probably over, and that was probably as it should be. I told him, truthfully, that I would love to make it to 90 years of age any way I could... and that, if I did, I'd be thrilled if I could imagine even getting outside on an unseasonably warm winter day and helping someone with a chore like this.

I'm an inspirational leader, and that's because I'm an inspired person. Being inspired is a prerequisite to inspiring others - a fact of which I often remind my clients. So whether it's in the board room, on the shop floor, in your business, or out in your father-in-law's back yard, you should look for inspiration anywhere you can find it. If you didn't have the opportunity today to get dirty helping an old man clean out his roof gutters, I feel sorry for you. Because it did me a world of good... and I highly recommend you find someone to help, soon, maybe even today. The heart you inspire will definitely be your own.

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Article Tags: entrepreneurship, health wealth and happiness, inspirational leadership, personal responsibility



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