From Success to Significance

With its vision guiding the agency over the next ten years, Carpenter Insurance tripled in size. The agency built a larger, beautiful building, opened offices in two other states, and developed a national reputation within the insurance industry. It was featured in several books, articles, and documentaries on topics such as “companies that have sustained great results” and “the best companies to work for.”

As the agency grew, Marsha was appointed CFO and became a trusted advisor and confidant to Jim. Although it was a larger company and more complex in many ways, the vision continued to guide Carpenter, and the agency was able to maintain the culture by ensuring the values were lived. The performance review system included an evaluation not only of business results but also of the manager’s ability to communicate effectively, develop a strong team, work collaboratively across department lines, and resolve conflict effectively. No one was promoted unless their behaviors were aligned with the company’s values.

Living the values was considered as important as delivering business results. For example, a top-performing agent who brought in a lot of business could not get over his self-importance and develop cooperative working relationships with his peers. After receiving feedback from his boss and being provided coaching, his behavior did not improve. Although he was a top revenue producer, he was fired.

In one popular business magazine that featured the agency, one employee who was interviewed said:

As profits increased, Jim decided one good way to act on the company’s value of “contributing to the success of the community and environment” would be to set up a foundation to provide education and resources to communities in developing countries. One of the employees at the agency was from a small village in Paraguay. The young man approached Jim to see if the foundation would help raise money to build a school in that region. The foundation decided to sponsor the project. Over the years, Jim and some others from the company visited the village and developed close, personal relationships with the mayor, the young man’s father, and many of the people who lived in the community. Together they built an elementary school and later a high school and community center. They provided buses to transport children from remote locations to the schools. As the years progressed, it was obvious that education was making a significant difference in improving the economy and quality of life in the region.

Over the years, whenever he was asked when he was going to retire, Jim would reply, “Never!” However, his interest began to shift more and more toward the foundation. Eventually, Jim appointed Marsha as president of the agency, while he focused most of his attention on the foundation.

• • •

As for me, I applied the principles of vision that Jim and I had learned to my writing. I published a series of books for managers, titled Mother Goose Management, which took lessons of childhood stories and showed how they illuminated the principles of vision. My marriage with Sam was strong and fulfilling. He helped me stay connected with what was deeply meaningful and true. We had our ups and downs, but we were always able to work things out through the intimacy of our commitment.

One day, cleaning up files on my computer, I came across a folder that contained transcriptions of Jim’s voice mail messages. Reading a few, I came across one that made me pause.

I was inspired to send Jim a message telling him how much he had meant to me—how much he had influenced my life for the better. I thanked him and told him I wanted to keep my “I love yous” up-to-date. He had always been prompt in responding to me, and I was surprised that I didn’t hear back from him within a few days—or at least get an acknowledgment that he had received my e-mail.

At the end of the week, I got a call that explained why.

“Ellie, this is Kristen. I wanted to let you know that Dad is in the hospital. I know he would want me to call you.”

“Is it serious?” I asked.

Kristen hesitated. “I’m afraid it is, Ellie. It’s his heart. He’d been feeling ill for about a week. Last night we had to rush him to the hospital.”

“How bad is it?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jim always seemed so strong . . . somehow invincible.

“There’s really not much they can do for him,” Kristen responded, her voice cracking for the first time in our conversation. “He’s in the ICU, and the doctors didn’t expect him to last the night. He’s not conscious, but he’s still with us this morning.”

I hung up the phone and just stood there—completely stunned. How could someone with the biggest, strongest heart I’d ever known have a problem with his heart? It didn’t make sense. All I knew was I needed to see him again, one last time. I didn’t even know if he had read my e-mail, if I had kept my “I love yous” up-to-date with him. I called Sam to let him know what had happened and was on the next plane out.

I called Kristen as soon as my plane landed, expecting to go straight to the hospital.

“Don’t go to the hospital, Ellie. Come to the house, okay?” she said gently and hung up the phone.

I sat numbly in the back of the taxi on the ride to Jim’s house. Standing on the front step, I hesitantly rang the doorbell. Kristen opened the door. She didn’t say a word. She just put her arms around me and started to cry. Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t fathom it. But I knew Jim was dead.

• • •

After the funeral, we came back to the house. People were everywhere, telling stories about Jim—he had touched so many people in so many ways. After a while, I wandered down the hall toward the bathroom, passed Jim’s study, and was immediately drawn in. It didn’t even occur to me that this was a private space. I so strongly felt the need to connect with something of Jim. I walked to his desk, sat down, and looked out the window for a long time. This was the desk where Kristen had found Jim’s obituary—his vision for his life. I glanced down and there on his desk—still open and looking as though it had just been read—was a printout of the e-mail I had sent. I breathed a sigh of relief. He had read it.

There was another sheet of paper on his desk. It contained some sketchy notes in Jim’s handwriting. Apparently he was still leaving morning messages, and it looked like these were his notes for what would have been his next morning message.

I studied the words:

• what it means to move from success to significance

• the importance of giving back to your community

• we’re all in this world together

I could almost hear him speaking. Good morning, everyone. This is Jim.

And so I said good-bye to Jim and thanked him for his last gift—the challenge to discover what it means to move from success to significance.

• • •

I’ve contemplated Jim’s last message over the years, and I’ve come to the conclusion that on this planet, we are all part of one community; we all need to assume responsibility for creating a shared vision. If your vision is only about yourself and getting what you want, you are too narrowly focused. Ultimately, you may be successful in achieving your goals, but true satisfaction comes from having a significant impact and making a contribution.

The images we hold in our minds have a tremendous impact on the realities we create. I am concerned that there are so many images of destruction in movies, on television, and even in electronic games that children play. In contrast, there are so few images of what peace looks like. When I ask most people to describe what world peace looks like, they use vague terms. However, they are able to give quite vivid descriptions of what a post–World War III would look like. I’ve put a bumper sticker on my car that says “Visualize World Peace.” And I look for any opportunity I can to help people create positive images for our planet.

In moving from success to significance, I discovered another underlying principle of vision:

The vision must benefit everyone it touches.

At the very least, acting on your vision must not cause harm to anyone. A vision for a company that benefits customers and not employees is useless. People have asked me whether Hitler had a vision. My response is “He was not aligned with the principles of vision as I describe them. But he had a charismatic personality and articulated a compelling image to those who would benefit from it. Unfortunately, it was at the expense of those it did not include and, as a result, millions suffered horribly.”

Because the images we hold have the potential to manifest, we have a responsibility to take them seriously and to consider the larger community that is touched by our vision. My own vision has expanded to include a larger and larger scope. I’m confident that as my vision continues to expand, I’ll recognize future opportunities to act on my vision as they arise, and that I will have the courage to act.

Thanks, Jim. Your vision was to have made the world a better place by having been there. It is. And I continue to move full steam ahead, my friend.