The Person Here
I can’t imagine that it is a common occurrence in the bluegrass music world: a few musicians unload their acoustic instruments from a private jet after returning home to Chattanooga, Tennessee from a gig at a remote music festival in mountainous Appalachia or from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
I picture the musicians out on the tarmac dividing up the pay from that night’s performance — $50 per person? Maybe $100? Ahhh, a bluegrass musician’s typical economic reality. All of the money pooled together wouldn’t have covered more than a few minutes of flight time in this aircraft.
A private jet is an ultimate luxury status, right? It symbolizes flying above the clouds and playing by your own rules.
But, it was not so for this particular aircraft’s pilot… and owner, Fletcher Bright.
This plane, a derivative of Fletcher’s real estate development success, was ALL about moving his art out of the clouds and back down to the soil… into the hard-to-reach places where meaningful work is done to realize meaningful results. To Fletcher, what truly mattered progressed through tiny moments. Fletcher made these tiny moments happen for decades. For himself and for each individual in his presence.
I visited with Fletcher a few times in his real estate office in downtown Chattanooga.
There were no giant display boards of his company’s shopping mall plans, or models of completed or planned downtown live/work/play projects. But, there were a LOT of fiddles. And he seemed to always welcome the opportunity to pick up one of those instruments and play it.
Upon hearing the news of Fletcher’s passing on Christmas morning, my wife, who looked up to this man like no other in the 25 years I’ve known her, said, “When you were with him, you were all that mattered. No next appointment, no schedule. Just you. As long as you needed.”
And if you played music together — in his office, or at an opry, or in a workshop, or in his kitchen… even better.
The Person Here
It takes a realization that the path of the person here is not the other person. You are the person here.
To be the person here is to practice mindfulness, presence, empathy, gratitude, and creativity when nobody else is sitting across from you so that maybe you can be a little more present when *they are present.*
Over the next few days and weeks, many of us will set goals for big success in 2018 and think of ways to engage more people with our story.
Goals are rarely achieved in a vacuum. Relationships are almost always a necessary part of the equation. The goal-setting gurus give it a snappy name like, “Relationships 101” and tell us that if we search for the right person in the room, the magic happens.
I’d love to tell you I have this one figured out. I don’t. And, Fletcher’s passing is a haunting wake-up call for me on how I have a ways to go to be more attuned to the person here.
I am grateful, Fletcher.
I am grateful that you aimed your jet aircraft high and then always returned it back to the soil to serve the person here.
Thank you for your beautiful flight.
With gratitude,
Joe
Hi, I’m Joe, the owner of 5 With Joe Performance Coaching. My clients are leaders, organizations, and teams who utilize my Olympic Gold Medal performance strategies and 40 years of navigating whitewater river rapids to streamline decision making and actions when engaged in complicated river currents of business and life.
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