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The Fine Art of Forwardness
By Steve Sjogren | April 6, 2007
I remember as a first grader, my prim and proper Swedish grandmother, who was on paper an American but internally never really got off “the boat.” If you have parents or grandparents like this who came from the Old Country you know of what I speak. That is, deep down they really do appreciate the new life they have in the U.S. On the other hand, they equally know this truth: “If everyone could become ‘Swedish’ (fill in the blank with your whatever ethnicity you choose), the world would be a much much better place.
She was not a warm and cuddly person. One of her rules was “Never talk to strangers.” In order to live this rule out, she felt perfectly at home only in a small town around those she had grown up with.
When someone who was obviously not from her small town would speak up and say something like, “How are you doing today?” Or the ever famous, “Good to meet your… what’s your name?” then actually wait for an answer, my grandma would become beklempt (that’s a Swedish-Jewish word from the 13 lost tribes of Jacob - they wandered way north of the Sinai into Scandinavia and became Vikings later). She wouldn’t answer - would keep walking and later would comment, “My oh my, that person was certainly forward!”
My dad respected his mom when we were around her, but on the drive home he would set the record straight. “Steve, you actually do want to be forward in spite of what Grandma says. We love her just the way she is. But you and all of our family – well, we are all forward people all of the time. That’s just the way we are. If you want to get ahead in life you have to be a forward person.”
Topics: Leadership, Outward Focused |
