Preface to Our Book

Homer’s Preface 

This book is not the first nor last book on leadership. It’s probably not the best book on leadership.  It's selfish but I wrote it for myself. I wrote it to document my life. It is my story. The book began more like a journal. I suppose I started writing a memoir before I knew what a memoir was, and long before they were popular. It turned into a book on leadership when I realized that much of life is about learning, and much of what I have learned in my life is how to teach and how to lead.  At times it will read more like a life-sketch. Others times it may feel similar to a self-help book about leadership. At times things may seem out of order or out of context, but life is that way. Some lessons are learned quickly, like, don’t eat glue - learned in Chapter One. Other lessons take a lifetime and are not realized until the pieces of life are put together and the picture in the puzzle becomes clear.  Most lessons repeat themselves; sometimes as reminders and sometimes we finally understand for the first time. As you will read, many of the things I’ve learned, were learned “the hard way”, from making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and bouncing back. I write honestly about my failings and hope that you can learn, and not make the same mistakes. One of those shortcomings was not publishing this sooner. I’ve matured immensely since I started drafts. In many instances I cringe at my own naivety, but in the end, the principals are enduring. You will make mistakes, and I will continue to error and fall short, but learning from your history and the history of others, striving for something better, and leaving a legacy, are the rewards of this life. I encourage you to write your own story, even if only for yourself. Write it down. You may discover that you’ve learned more along life’s road than you realized. And, someone else may benefit, if only to look and say, “Well, at least I don’t have his challenges” or “at least I didn’t do that”. I make no apologies for the writing style, only explanations. Besides, it’s my story and I’ll tell it however I want. 

If you will not be forgotten after you are dead and rotten either write things worth the reading or do things worth the writing of –Benjamin Franklin 

Charlie's Preface 

This book would have been written much sooner had it not been for some overwhelming imposter syndrome on my part. When Scott and I first discussed me working in his book with him it was as much as a research assistant than anything, and even that seemed more than I was qualified for. Through the years as I failed to contribute much to the writing, it has become more and more an invitation to add my own voice to his in speaking about the leadership principals and ideals that have occupied many of our conversations which I cherish. What finally got me writing was finally  realizing the part I may be able to play in this story.   

You see I’ve spent my whole life looking up to my big brother. His time and attention were something I prized as a kid, his adventures were something I’ve lived in awe of all my life, and his wisdom is something I’ve worked to instill in my kids as they’ve grown. Often after discussing some principal of leadership or personal development with him I would find a book or three to read on the subject to try and better understand what it all meant and how I could learn from it. Now, I hope that I can share with you what these lessons have meant to me, and how they have affected my own story.  

And so it is my hope dear reader that my part will give you something to help you learn to lead as I have, from the life of my big brother.