How LinkedIn Inspired Me

This week, LinkedIn asked its Influencers to write about "what Influences" them.  This was a great idea.  Not only did we get to learn more about the individual influencers as people, but we got to learn more about how the actual person thinks and processes information.  It is one thing to write about what you do professionally and provide thought-leadership, but quite another to talk about what inspires you as a person.  Reading their posts were really quite revealing.

So, LinkedIn's great idea along with reading the various Influencer posts,  inspired me to write about my inspirations.  Well, here we go:

As I sat to write this, I realized that the people who have inspired me most in my life had something in common.  They all had a number of personality traits that were the same. I hadn't compartmentalized people like this before, but the truth is here in black and white.

So who are the people who have inspired me in my lifetime?  Here are just a few.

1.  My parents
2.  My maternal grandmother and great grandmother
3.  My first boss:  Elwood Maxwell
4.  Lori MacMullen
5.  Deb Arnold
6.  Nelson Mandela, whom I wish I knew.

My father after the Ribbon Cutting - New Seniors Complex in Home Town

What do these people all have in common?  Strength, perseverance, intelligence, but above all else, they have compassion and exhibit forgiveness and kindness on a daily basis.  I think that these traits separate much more than the wheat from the chaff.  No, these traits characterize people who are selfless and help others.  They want to genuinely help others be in a better place.  These are not people who are selfish or self-absorbed.   

Sadly, some of these people I list are no longer with us.  So I pay tribute to my father, my grandmother, great grandmother and Deb Arnold here!  They are all greatly missed. 

There are many other great people in this world.  Who would YOU add to this list?