My friend Kip Tindell was the co-founder of The Container Store and a leader in the Conscious Capitalism movement. I was recently reminded of something he once told me:
“One of my firmest convictions is that our wake—those waves and ripples of consequences that follow our every action—is much bigger than we can ever imagine. Everything you do and everything you don’t do affects the people around you and your business, far, far more than you realize. Even the most self-centered, egotistical person you know wildly underestimates the power of his wake.”
Kip’s wise words ring as true today as they did when he first told me, leaving me to wonder, what if we were all more “woke” about our wake? How might it modify how we show up for life? Not surprisingly, Kip’s favorite film is “It’s a Wonderful Life,” based upon George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) being given the gift (thanks to an angel) to see the wake he left behind in his life. It made him a better and more grateful human being.
