Sometimes life presents you with some terrific memories and I will never forget the look on Ray McLean’s face during our recent celebration of his 20 years of contributing to leadership development.
Yep, 20 years is not bad for someone once described as ‘an ex-school teacher peddling pop psychology’. That assessment is a big contradiction to the views expressed at our 20 year celebration at the end of 2012.
I have lots of good memories from the day. Firstly, seeing that over 80 people attended the function at the MCG Olympic Room to honour a very humble man confirmed what I have always know about Ray – he is a popular man. And yes, he is actually quite humble about his achievements and his impact on so many people! But no memory will linger longer than the sheer delight displayed by so many clients, former clients, family, friends and general advocates of Leading Teams. The stories were far too positive and complimentary but the sentiment was as it should have been! People came from as far away as Darwin, and some that couldn’t make it sent written and video messages with kind words. The staff at Leading Teams made a video (see below) which was less than complimentary (in a good way!) – we wanted people to know some secrets about Ray also.
Ray McLean is not only my Business Partner, he is one of my very best mates. It was with great pleasure, delight and a fair amount of mischief to throw a surprise party for him – keeping it a secret was a credit to everyone attending. For those that don’t know Ray, he HATES surprises and even worse, he hates it when it’s all about him. I know, hard to believe, but true nonetheless.
Ray is a story teller of the first order and I remember he once told me a story about how someone had corrected him when he said ‘such and such’ was a good bloke. The correction went something like, “Nah he’s good company, but he’s not a good bloke.” Please be in no doubt at all that Ray McLean is not only good company (as many would attest), he is also a very good bloke.
So if you get a chance please look at the photos of the big day and let Ray know how you feel about him, because one of life’s little rewards is to see your mates squirm a little.
Well done Ray and thanks for the memories, mate.
Kraig worked in leadership and change management at the Navy and Air Force for 20 years before joining Leading Teams in 2001. Kraig is based in Ballarat.
