From Puke to Purpose: A Leadership Story

Jan 22

Illustration of hospital scene with with speech bubbles

Over the holidays, our daughter Stef reminded me of a treasured experience as she was dealing with sick kids.

"Remember that night at the hospital Dad ?"

"What night ?"

"Remember when I was a little girl and you took me to emergency with an ear infection ?"

"I think that happened a few times Stef. Is there a specific visit ?"

And before she answered, I knew the visit. Wind the clock back 27 years and you’ll see us in the emergency waiting room. It’s 3am and we’ve been waiting at least an hour and my baby girl looks up at me and says,

"Daddy, I"m going to puke."

"Don’t worry honey, that’s ok."

I get down in front of her, cup my palms and then it happens. In my mind I’m thinking, "Whoa does this reek ! But the warmth is kinda nice."

She was 5 or so at the time—I can’t believe she remembers it. If you asked Stef today she would say, "I remember it clear as day. I recall thinking, 'Daddy must really love me if he’s letting me puke in his hands'."

At the time, I’m sure I was rueing the fact that I was losing sleep, had to be up in the morning to go to work and a whole host of excuses to justify how unfair this was on me. Yup, I was probably having a pity party and mad that I was the only one in attendance. In spite of that, when Stef had to puke, I didn’t give it a second thought. My reaction seemed to come naturally.

Here’s the thing—when you help someone with no expectation of anything in return, they know you care. And they know it so deeply, it may surprise you.

If you’re a parent of young kids, it may involve catching puke but for most people it’s going to be something that happens in everyday life. For example, it could be:

extra support at work because of life circumstances at home
someone to talk to because they’re lonely
help on a project because they are over their head and afraid to say anything because it could come back on them
assistance with errands or picking up a gift for someone because they are unable to travel
support as they recover from a health set back

So for you, I bet there’s someone in your life right now who needs your unconditional support. I don’t know who it is, but I'm also willing to bet they are not even asking for support.

Let’s be a bit more aware of those around us.

As always, we would love to hear an experience that left an indelible mark on you—please share.