The Bridges We Keep
ENERGY WORD: Perspective · BOOK: The Gap and The Gain
Hello,
Every Wednesday I share five things with the GLAS community: something to learn, an energy word, an action, a question for processing and a shout out.
Learn
The Bridges We Keep
One of the unexpected joys of writing three books has been reconnecting with people.
Businesspeople. Friends. Advisers. Media contacts. People who knew me when I was at Savekers. People I met after.
Some I’ve stayed close to. Others I haven’t spoken to for years.
And yet, time and again, I’ve reached out and discovered that the warmth is still there. The conversation picks up - they remember and they care. Most have been interested to know what happened next.
It has genuinely warmed my heart.
We talk a lot in GLAS about Relating being a bridge: the connections we build between ourselves, other people and things.
Writing these books has reminded me that a strong bridge doesn’t disappear simply because we haven’t walked across it for a while.
When a bridge was built with kindness, interest, trust and genuine care, it can still be there years later. I’ve realised how fortunate I am that so many of my bridges are still standing.
I guess my learn is that relationships aren’t really built in the moments when we need something from somebody. They’re built in all the small moments before that: how we treat people, whether we listen, whether we care, whether we help, whether we stay interested.
You never quite know which bridges you’ll want cross again.
So build them well.
ENERGY
Connection
Connection comes from the Latin connectere: con, meaning together, and nectere, meaning to bind or tie. A connection is, quite literally, something that binds us together.
I’d like to think that is why the strongest bridges can remain standing even when we have not crossed them for years.
ACTION
Reach out
Think of someone you once had a warm connection with but haven’t spoken to for a while. Reach out.
Don't do it because you need something or have an agenda. Do it simply because you’d like to know how they are.
PROCESSING
“If you reached back through the different chapters of your life, which bridges would you choose to cross again?”
SHOUT OUT
My grandma
Today would have been my grandma’s birthday. She was, quite simply, one of the best examples I’ve ever known of how to connect with people. She made people feel seen, remembered and cared about. In many ways, she was a heartbeat for a community.
Some of what I’m experiencing now is a reminder of what she showed me all those years ago:
Connections last when people remember how you made them feel.
THIS WEEK’S GIFT
The Go-Giver
(Bob Burg and John David Mann)
Free visual synopsis download for the next seven days with the code at checkout:
The artwork featured in this section is all copyrighted and for private use only. If you wish to use these online, in blogs / features or in presentations etc - we are happy to discuss licences. Please get in touch. The downloads do not have watermarks.
If you’d like to discuss having your ideas, business or culture captured visually - you can also let me know via email.
ONLY 30 - SIGNED AND NUMBERED
Only in a family business…
FOUNDERS’ EDITION
In 1903, my family opened a business. In 2009, it closed in my hands. For a long time I didn’t tell those stories. This book is where I finally do.
Signed, numbered and dedicated to you or someone you choose.
With the 2027 GLAS Calendar - featuring 12 non fiction book visuals.
Despatched from 21 October, a week before publication.
£39 plus postage
Hardback, paperback and e-book from 28 October.
Thanks for reading. Until next Wednesday!
