A leader's gesture

 

After working for a few months for Flemming Jacobs, one of the most inspirational leaders I know, he invited the team out to dinner with our wives.  We had been on a project for several months, and much of that involved being away from our families. We quickly found out that this wasn't the usual business dinner.  At the entrance of the restaurant, Flemming and his wife Ing Marie presented our wives with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  At dinner, Flemming stood up and gave a toast. The toast was to our spouses, acknowledging that  he had asked a lot of not only us , his team, in the last two months, but of our families. He thanked our wives, and told them how important we were to him and the company and that the task at hand would call for many more long days and sacrifices in the near future. He thanked our spouses for the support they gave to us.

An amazing gesture!

It felt great to know knew that our leader valued us and thought about our well being, thought about us and our families. And to recognize us in front of our spouses, meant more than any other recognition gesture.  That moment has stuck with me and those of us who were at that dinner, still talk about it many years later. Suffice it to say, we gave our all for the ensuing months.