Today, I had a passing thought on how my eulogy will sound like and the speakers at my funeral. It was just curiosity that made my mind wander rather than negativity dwelling. Have you ever wonder what will yours sound like?
On the personal side of things, I know I will have great friends who will lavish beautiful praises like ‘I am a great friend to them.’, ‘I never judge them for the life choices they made.’ and ‘how I’m always there for them when I’m physically not there.’ I’m sure you’ll have beloved friends and family that will say the same, if not more about you as well.
But have you give a thought about the people you see almost on a daily basis? Yes, I mean your colleagues and your superiors. What will they say about you in your eulogy? Many will probably not care as much since they are just coworkers. However, these are the people who coexist with you in a small space for more than 8 hours a day, at least 5 days a week. People who exchange ideas and opinions with you frequently, that you rant to, clash with…. so wouldn’t you’ll be at least a bit curious what they will say about you after you are no longer around?
I know I will want to hear all those who have worked with me, present or past, my work ethics, my thought processes and my management styles. Perhaps I want to hear about how stubborn I can be when I believe in an idea. Or how protective I am when comes to defending my staff. Or I can be emotional when I have been wronged at work.
Maybe I want to hear more than I am just a good worker that produce great results and is a team player who isn’t afraid of rolling up her sleeves and get down and dirty with the big guns. Maybe I just want to be more than just a statistic in the company, more than just a file that Human Resource discards when I’m no longer with them. I don’t want to be just a pinhead in the map of an organization chart.
I want to be remembered as more than a boss to the people. I want to be a friend, a mentor, an innovator and most importantly a leader. I want to matter to people who I choose to spend a huge chunk of my life to be with. Not one of the stars in the Milky Way but The Star in the dark night. That can only come from the effort in the creation of relationships at the workplace.
It takes more than a day, heck, it takes more than a year just to build strong relationships that tested countless of heated meetings and ugly debates amid in the unavoidable gossips and backstabbing. It takes sincerity, effort, time and genuineness to breach the gap between two strangers and evolve into something real.
Have you ever given any thoughts to your eulogy? Share them with us in the comments below.
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