A few weeks ago I was driving to visit a client and heard an interview on the radio that really stuck with me. It was a retired sportswriter who had been an award-winning overachiever who was always the youngest to accomplish this, that or the other.
Now in retirement, his focus had shifted. “At this point in my career, my focus is on growing fruit on other people’s trees,” he said.
Growing fruit on other people’s trees.
I love that phrase. It’s such a beautiful way of looking at living a service-oriented life and it perfectly sums up my goals for AIM Communications Strategy.
I’ve told several people that my ideal client base would be a mix of small business owners, entrepreneurs and nonprofits, with some sporting events and sports-adjacent businesses peppered in for fun. I get joy out of seeing other people achieve their goals and reach their dreams. For founders and builders, the drive to reach those goals is deeply personal and the rewards go far beyond the balance sheet.
Over the last few weeks, this phrase has kept bubbling up to the top of my mind and it has quickly become a statement of purpose that centers me on what’s really important.
As communicators, this is what we do. This is who we are. We shape, we cultivate, we nurture, we prune and shape, all in the hope that it will bear fruit for someone else. We don’t seek, nor receive, the glory or accolades. Our success comes in seeing others earn their flowers, and in helping them to receive them.
As AIM Communications Strategy moves into the second half of its first year, here’s to growing more fruit on more trees.
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