Love Learn Lead August 31, 2017

Just like that, we are at the end of August. Kids have already started back to school where I live, solidifying the fact that summer is coming to a close. But before we head into the focus that will kick off our fall on the blog, we have one more day talking about travel. Today, I talk about a city I love, a quote I find to be true about new experiences, and our latest Leadership Tip.

Wherever you are, I hope you are squeezing out every last wonderfully, warm moment of summer. I hope you are surrounded by great people this weekend, and that you enjoy today’s Love, Learn, Lead.

Love

Over the years, I have been blessed with being able to experience a few of the world’s great cities—but none of them hold the same place in my heart as the city closest to where I grew up. Perhaps it is because it is where I first flexed my muscles of independence as a college student, but Boston will always feel like home.

I realize we’ve been talking about traveling to far off places, and here I am talking about my home town. But now, being in a place where I have to travel to visit this fine city, I can’t help but talk about it. Something about Boston has stuck with me.

It could be that its rich history is so wrapped up in my own. Maybe it is that it is so walkable—and I’m a walker. But I think it is also because it is a city with a lot of heart—now after the marathon bombings, even more so. It is diverse in culture, rich in art, and has the best baseball team in the world. If you ever come to visit make sure you try to catch game, eat a cannoli at Mike’s, and get lost in the Commons.

What is your favorite city? What do you love about it?

Learn

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

How has travel—even to a nearby city—stretched you?

Lead

Leadership Tip #10: Travel

Perhaps this one is a little redundant after our month of talking about travel, but it is important. Travel is not just about business trips or vacations. Rather, it is one of the greatest means of broadening our perspective. When we explore new places, we are able to see our own circumstances anew and more creatively. When we eat new food, we gain a greater taste for life. And when we meet people from cultures or life situations different from our own, we obtain a better understanding of humanity. Hopefully, we learn to value others more.

Travel makes us better leaders. The old saying that you can’t lead anyone where you haven’t been, is literal in this case. If you want to lead those around you towards a greater understanding, value, and purpose in this world—it begins by exploring as much of the world as you possibly can. For some of us it may mean visiting another time zone, but often visiting the city just a few hours away, can be just as meaningful.