The Art of Touching Lives

A few weeks ago, I had the great honor to speak at John Jordan’s funeral.

My first awareness of Mr. Jordan happened at my first CMAA Conference in 1993. As I was getting an understanding of the professional association I had recently joined. I started to become aware of who the people that many of the professionals I admired, looked up to. The name that came up most frequently for me was John Jordan.

I had no idea at that conference Mr. Jordan would touch my life in such a profound way. I certainly didn’t know in the future I would (through years of CMAA coaching) learn how many people were influenced by this man.

A few years after this event I was asked to introduce a speaker at Conference and when I arrived, I saw two older gentlemen playing cards. When I asked John Jordan and Bill Kendall what game they were playing they told me “Crazy Eights.” I said “No, seriously what are you playing?” They said, “Crazy Eights”. (By the way it was not lost on me that these older gentlemen were years younger then, than I am now.)

Not long after that the President of CMAA was Bill Kendall and Mr. Kendall had a stroke. That year at the Canadian Society of Club Managers Conference in Victoria B.C. I saw John and Judy Jordan at a social event and told them how sorry I was to hear about Mr. Kendall’s health. Mr. Jordan was truly devastated by what his dear friend was going through and missing his crazy eights adventures with his friend.

Later, I had approached Mr. Jordan with a deck of cards and the suggestion that I would be willing to fill in for Mr. Kendall if he wasn’t too afraid to play me. He was thrilled with the idea; we went to an empty Ballroom to play cards. This is where my closer relationship with Mr. Jordan began. He pulled out a piece of paper and said to a Canadian “I like hockey, and we will have to play the best four out of seven to see who the winner is.” He won and it was documented on paper.

For a few years at CMAA Conferences I would play for Bill Kendall, with Bill Kendall present. It was a lot of fun to see the joy in Mr. Jordan when Mr. Kendall and I were able to beat him. The real joy I could see in Mr. Jordan was when he would beat me. He would have such a joyous laugh that would end with the sigh “Oh Me!” I had never heard anyone say, “Oh Me!” before but it was worth losing just to hear it.

After Bill Kendall passed away, we would meet at Conference every year. We both had important things to do but getting together to play crazy eights might have been the most important.

About a year ago I received a beautiful card from the Jordans and in it was a package of scorecards. What a wonderful thing to receive to recount all the hours we had spent playing a game. After I learned of Mr. Jordan’s death, I thought I would go through the scorecards to relive all those games. When I did that, I was touched by the man’s humor once again.

He had only sent me the scorecards of the games he won! When I realized that I laughed out loud and am pretty sure I could hear him laughing and sighing “Oh Me!”

John Jordan touched thousands of lives in many ways. He touched the lives of his family, his church, his community, his club, his industry, his chapter, his interests in food and wine. Many of the top leaders in our industry have either been influenced by him at his club or at a BMI or on a Board or a Committee, through the Extraordinary Leader Program or simply by introducing themselves at a conference.

I never had the opportunity to work with him at Cherokee as many of the people that I admire did, but I would get an invitation to the Cherokee Alumni Dinner at Conference.

Here are some of the ways he touched my life: I can’t say that I learned how to be a better club manager from him. The lessons I learned from him were focused on how to be a better man. I learned by watching. I saw the way he dressed. I saw the way he celebrated others. I saw the way he adored Judy. I heard the way he spoke. I heard about his children, and I saw the overwhelming pride he had for them and his grandchildren. He was a brilliant winner and close to brilliant loser. He was incredibly humble. He was incredibly grateful; I saw a person of high standards. My favorite of his traits was his sense of humor.

I am so grateful that I got the experience of having this man in my life.

Now you might think this is an article about John Jordan, but I hope you will come to realize that this is an article about you. You are the artist that gets to touch lives. You might find that as you perform the artistry of touching lives that the lives you touch will be exponential. The lives you touch will touch lives and so on. People are watching you! People are listening to what you say and how you say it. They are learning from your example whether it is a good example or not. This is your chance to consider what difference you will make in the lives of others. This is your chance to make a difference in the lives of someone new or reconnect with someone who has been a difference maker for you.

Please go do your art!