Friendship of a different sort...

He called me out of the blue, one morning after months of lost contact. “Yoram”, he said, “I thought about you. Are you ok? Can I come over”?

What happened, what instigated the call I asked? Some voice inside me said you could use my insights and my friendship, he responded.

I was touched how he sensed me from far away. It was also moving because he was not embarrassed to pick up the phone and express his care.

My dear friends, my notes, which so many of you follow and respond to, do not always pursue consistent themes. Occasionally we discuss management experiences and often I share stories and events which ten years ago I did not dare to discuss. At this stage of my life, I am clearly growing to a point where nothing is off limits and no honest detail is considered embarrassing or shameful. Life is too short and time is the essence. What is not shared today may be lost tomorrow.

So back to my dear friend who communicated care, love and devotion without resorting to words.

“Everyone needs a friend or mentor who can ask you the tough questions. Someone who can be cruel to be kind from a place of love,” he said at one point.

I have thought about this for years. Coming from a country where listening is not part of our cultural malaise and defensiveness is an inalienable part of our psyche, I welcomed a moment of truth from a loving friend who made me face reality with courage and a readiness to grow.

Imagine a person with no ulterior motives, who brings tremendous wisdom and pure love, who believes in you and admires you, but is also able to look you in the eye and tell you where he thinks you are stuck. I was truly blessed by this door-opening experience.

“I am lucky to have you as a friend”, he said, “I am lucky to be there, to have this kind of opportunity enter my life.”

Can you imagine the interaction? He came to help me and yet he was feeling gratitude as a result of my openness and readiness to truly let him in.