Thanksgiving Reflections
I’m Andy Temte and welcome to the Saturday Morning Muse! Start to your weekend with me by exploring topics that span leadership, business management, education, and other musings designed to support your journey of personal and professional continuous improvement. Today is November 30, 2024.
Now that another Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror, let’s not miss the opportunity to reflect on what we’re most grateful for. I’ve personally had Thanksgivings in the past that were a stressful crush of relatives and gatherings where I didn’t pause and make time to inventory what I’m grateful for.
Here’s my list this year. I’m grateful for:
My immediate and extended family. I have been blessed with two wonderful sons who have taught me the meaning of true love. My wife Linda is my anchor and grounds me in a world of uncertainty and chaos.
My mental and physical health. Although I’m wracked with the typical ailments, aches, and pains that come with age, I’m fortunate to be living through one of the most creative and productive times of my life. I could wallow in my pains and ailments, but I choose instead to focus on giving back through forums like this.
The students in my Management 400 class at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. Working with them has helped me see the world through the eyes of a generation that is taking its first flights into the world of work. I’m thankful for the perspective this has afforded me, and the contributions they’re making to my personal and professional journey of continuous improvement.
The occasions where I “instantly lost my deodorant” in a moment of panic. Ever have your phone ring in the middle of a speech by your boss’s boss? Realize you forgot to check the right box after submitting an important application? Here’s a good one - filled out the bubbles on the answer sheet to the GMAT but realized at the end of the exam that you were one bubble off for the ENTIRE TEST (true story)? These are life’s self-generated teaching moments that we should all pay close attention to and learn from. Painful at the time, but invaluable lessons for future versions of ourselves.
My teachers, mentors, and coaches for all the life lessons they imparted on me. I’m most thankful for their patience, persistence, and perseverance when I didn’t get it right the first time. Yes, I’ve had many teachers who carried around an unyielding, fixed mindset, but have been fortunate to have a number of teachers with an agile mindset who exhibited the right balance of compassion and accountability. We need more teachers who understand this balance since we have our most impactful learning experiences when we’re uncomfortable. We need more teachers who will pick us back up without judgment after we’ve fallen. We need more teachers who are fair, inclusive, and dole out criticism constructively.
The leaders in my life like Carl Schweser, Daniel Johnson-Wilmot, Andy Rosen, Don Graham, Jonathan Grayer, and the late Roger Leithold, who have seen more potential in me than I was able to see in myself at the time. I have been blessed with leaders through the years who were able to effectively delegate responsibility and cultivated a keen sense of stewardship within me. In retrospect, none of the opportunities I’ve been afforded were magically bestowed upon me, but were instead the result of consistently showing up with a light in my eyes and consistently demonstrating the value I add to the organization. Opportunity is a two-way street.
My bandmates and the production crew for The Remainders. I’ve found that music is an essential ingredient in my life and I’ve paid a high mental health price during those times when my life has been devoid of music and musical performance. Cultivate your multidimensional self by investing in your passion or by exploring new potential passions. Don’t let life slip by as a unidimensional cog in the great wheel of life. Life’s literally too short. Oh, and last week, the band released its first full length studio album of original music. I’ve had the absolute joy of being able to create this work with my son and business partner, Nick Temte. I am fully aware of how unique and precious this gift is.
The 22 years I spent at Kaplan. Although it’s been nearly three years since my departure, I’ll forever carry a deep sense of gratitude for the thousands of people who worked with me over the years to create “yahoo moments” for millions of students and customers around the world. If you’re working a job that you don’t love or for a company who’s purpose and mission don’t mesh with your personal purpose, make a change. I’m so thankful for the privilege of waking up every day, secure in the knowledge that we were going to help individuals achieve their educational and career goals.
My ability to sleep. As I age, I’m realizing that my ability to manufacture calm in my mind/body and employ that gift to drift off to sleep is more rare than it is common. One piece of advice for what it’s worth, spend a few moments of your own post-Thanksgiving reflective time to catalog the “unnecessary busy” that swirls in your life and pledge to look for and eliminate/reduce its root cause. Having less unnecessary complexity won’t be a silver bullet, but it sure helps unclutter my mind.
What does your inventory of gratitude look like? I encourage you to write down your thoughts for future reflection and refinement.
Grace. Dignity. Compassion.
