“Respect is not a passive act. To respect someone is to look for the springs that feed the pool of their experience.”William Isaacs in Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together

My reunion with four of my life-long friends was awesome. I’m still amazed at the mastery of providence as to how the weekend came together and is still making its impact. While there is the common bond of how our group formed many years ago, we lead very different lives – being from four different states and in four unique professions.

During our many hours of ‘catching-up’ conversations, our dialogue, as one might expect, turned to deeper matters. I shared at one point my theory of time being a created thing. Simply put, whatever you believe God, or a larger more collective spirit to be, we are only with that spirit when we are in the present.

I love what Isaacs has to say:
“Our ability to perceive … is a present-moment competence. It diminishes as we think about the past or worry about the future.”

I’ve often said that there is no more present moment experience than truly listening to another human being. This is the ultimate of respect – to listen without judgment. How powerful my weekend with those four men as this is what occurred in every moment we spent together.

 I’ve come to the point where I believe that a person is not a true leader until they come to practice this level of respect.