The Dog

It’s unclear who said?

“It's not the size of the dog in the fight,?it's the size of the fight in the dog”.?

Some attribute it to Mark Twain, others to Eisenhower.?

Regardless, I see it as the total embodiment of my father.?

A banter wiz kid, jabbing one liners with uppercut gotchas, a flick of an ear, smack talk throw-ins, and quips dancing from politics to sports to economics, fashion, music, celebrity chefs and famous quotes.?

The guy ran circles around the ring of life – although his heavy foot always gave away his comings and goings.?

And he taught me about the dog.?

Make no mistake, my Dad and I went head to head and in those times when I thought I was in my last round, he’d show up like Sonny Liston punching up the hope, with precision fatherly placement.?

My Dad crusaded for family, forever reminding me and my brothers that we were each others’ besties, no matter what. He championed for my Mom – supporting her uncanny abilities to cultivate loyal friendships and partner with him on all matters including finances, professional and relationships.?

As a grandfather, I sat ringside to his sparring.?

My boys lived for my Dad’s clever footwork but mostly, they loved to playfully take him down.? On countless occasions, I questioned if they were peers, exchanging wisdom for wisecracks, and sports trivia for timeless teachings, sunk in deep like rich ointment on their open rough spots.?

When I took off my gloves, I’d drift into reconciling the complexities of our relationship. He was a man from a different era. And, I challenged that –? running him relentlessly through his paces in search of a cold plunge. I pissed him off. And, he pressed my buttons.

I’d be a liar if I told you our fights were kept clean, that the scrapes didn’t fester and that healing was speedy.?

Not even close

It’s been more like slo mo…

But, where I feel my Dad’s one two punch most in my life is in my day to day work. Without any force, or finesse, I see and feel how his mission and mine have collided.?

A quiet unintended passing of the torch.?

You see, in the 70’s, when I was no more than eight or nine, I stood in front of my Dad’s Harvard Business School class –? a group of married executives battling the balance between their public and private lives. I stood at the bottom of the lecture hall fielding the Q&A to help these couples find out what it was like to be a kid with two working parents.?

As a regular practice my brothers and I earned our rank by tag teaming? with my Dad on his work trips.?

On my first trip to New York City. he coached me on how to bob and weave like a champ. He got reckless, breaking bedtime rules, food restrictions and even let me wear the Plaza hotel robe despite my lightweight stature.?

I introduced him in Philadelphia Club before he came to the podium to talk to leaders in their field and I sat in the audience in Chautauqua where he shared the stage with Buckminster Fuller and Isaac Asimov.?

His work left him tireless. Up at 6:15, out the door by 7 and 18 minutes to the office. I never heard him dred his work, or lament about his hours. Like a boxer his endurance gave him swagger and honed his laser focus.?

Through his example, I learned that work and purpose need not live on different sides, instead they must coexist amidst the blows of change, for the next generation of titans.?

It’s been a long time since I saw that dog in my Dad. I have missed his bark and even his bite. I miss his little boy mischief and old world suggestions to wear pearls and straighten my hair.?

Over these past 11 yrs. I’ve yearned to hook my Dad into the fold of today’s world of business – clinching this attention with stories of the executives I have the great honor of working with.?

When my eyes get puffy,? I see him weighing in,? befuddled by AI, Sam Altman’s circus and today’s new crop of influencers.

I want to tell him that despite my years of defiance, and his many knockdowns, his work, his mission, and decades of examples have left a legacy for many and lit the fire for mine.?

I’m Loren (Executive Career Strategist) Greiff , On a mission to end career victimization by accelerating, elevating and celebrating one Executive at a time

Find out more about how I can help you. Check out my LinkedIn profile

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/lorengreiff/??