Don't wait to say thank you...

I was shocked and upset in a way that took me by surprise. He's no longer with us. How can that be? I haven't seen him for 25+ years. But he had a major impact on my life and my views on leadership. That's how I felt recently when I heard the news that Nick Williams, Director of Oracle Training Services when I joined in 1989, had tragically passed away. Unfortunately it was his passing that made me realise that I had learned so much from Nick and his leadership style. He was not an in-your-face, ra-ra-ra leader. But I, along with many others, fell in behind him and felt we were on a very special journey together as a team. I remain friends with so many people from that time because of the team spirit that Nick created. I am forever grateful for this but sad I can't thank him for creating something so special. I will never forget him telling me that, despite my best efforts not to show any response to difficult news, he could tell if I was angry because my eyes went from brown to black. How perceptive. Those of who know me now also know that, even now, I am still working on my poker face. Nick's observation made me realise that I can never truly hide how I feel - and is that such a bad thing? I am an emotional person because I care deeply for what I do and for the people I work with, both as colleagues and as customers. I admit I found Nick's leadership frustrating sometimes - those who joined him outside for a cigarette often knew more about what was going on than those of us that had given up smoking and avoided the temptation by staying in the office. But he was a gentle, funny, insightful and, above all, generous leader and I knew he was protecting us from internal shenanigans more often than most people could even begin to understand. He was our rock, our coach, our inspiration. I wish I had told him so.

His passing has made me realise how lucky I have been to have incredible leadership role models throughout my life, starting with Irene Reid, the head of Business Studies at the James Young High School, who was so kind to pupils and taught me how to deal with pupils whose family circumstances were so difficult and alien to my own protected childhood. Joan Feather at Norsk Data taught me that attention to environment made a huge difference to how our customers experienced us. And then there was Oracle. Nick Williams, Geoff Squires, Mike Davies, Paul Williams, Adrian Agostini, Caroline Casey, Steve Gold to name a few .... you have touched my life and made me a better person and a better leader (I hope).

Moving on, I have been so lucky to work for other inspirational leaders such as Mahesh Ram at GlobalEnglish and now Aaron Skonnard, Mark Wynne and many others at Pluralsight. What do all these people have in common? They are "people people". They get the best from others by being the best that they can be themselves. I strive to do the same but honestly it is a work in progress. Don't leave it too late to tell those who have had an impact on your life.