Building bridges

As I browsed through my LinkedIn page, I came across material from a client welcoming Ms. Katherine Sy or Katsy into their company VXI Global Solutions. It was her Day One with the company. I “liked” the post, and to my delightful surprise, Katsy wrote me a message thanking me for my response. She said in her message: “Hi Francis, I saw you liked my post, and I am so so happy! I was nine years old when I found your book (Three Little Words) in my mom’s bag, not knowing it would be my companion for many years to come. I’m (__) years old now (keep it our secret but just a clue, she is still very young), and I passed on the ‘very used’ book to a dear friend who needed it more. Thank you for bringing goodness in my life :)” I wrote back and said, “I have done some leadership training with your company. Jared (COO) is a great leader, and now that you are a few years older, I think I should give you another book.”

It has always been messages like this I have gotten from time to time that keeps me going. It is also why I continue to give talks and webinars to students, faculty, and parents in schools (all pro-bono), up to this day.

I had trained and taught Generation X when they were starting or were midway in their careers. I had spoken to Millennials when they were still in the early years of their collegiate life. I am now addressing Generation Z, who are still in college. To connect with them gives me a tremendous sense of fulfillment that is hard to find anywhere else.

It is no longer unusual for me to get speaking invitations from clients who first heard me when they were still in high school.

Though I do not operate in an academic setting, I consider myself a teacher, an educator communicating and presenting life lessons that can make a difference in some people’s lives. I guess this is what teachers do. While the corporate world juggles with endless slogans about “Finding Your Why,” “Discovering Your Purpose,” “Finding Meaning,” etc., teachers and educators very well know that they are bridge builders. For this very purpose, they do what they do.

THE BRIDGE BUILDER

by: Will Allen Dromgoole

An old man going a lone highway,

Came, at the evening cold and gray,

To a chasm vast and deep and wide.

Through which was flowing a sullen tide

The old man crossed in the twilight dim,

The sullen stream had no fear for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side

And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,

“You are wasting your strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day,

You never again will pass this way;

You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,

Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head;

“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,

“There followed after me to-day

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been as naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”

The teacher or educator’s work is noble because they are in the bridge-building business.

I have not met Katsy in person yet, but I sure hope one day I will. And perhaps a word of encouragement to teachers and educators out there and to the trainers, the coaches, and parents, go out there and build bridges.

I look forward to building more bridges in this new year. Join me in my Build-Build-Build Program.

(Francis Kong’s podcast “Inspiring Excellence” is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or other podcast streaming platforms.)