Michael Benstock Honored with NAUMD Lifetime Achievement Award

“Thank you to the association. This is a wonderful recognition. I promise not to say anything on stage that will cause anyone to come up here and slap me. I have to admit when I was first notified of this award, I was taken aback. I really was. Lifetime achievement...hmmm, what does that mean? Isn't that the recognition you receive when your career is over, often times posthumously? I struggled with the recognition - I did really - I'm not yet wheelchair bound, not drooling on myself. Although, if you've been around me you know that when I eat I usually wind up with something on my shirt or my tie. Is the association seeing something that I'm not seeing? You know, am I that guy who can't see what's really happening around me? The one who doesn't know when to hang it up?

So I reached out to Lisa Stewart - who's with us today - and Phil Koosed - who's my chief strategy officer - and I said, "What do I do?" And they both told me to shut up, accept the honor, as it is an honor, and I need to change my thinking about this recognition. So here is how I reconciled with all of that. I plugged into one of my mantras. When I wake every morning, we all wake up early, but I wake up at 3:43 every morning, just so you know. And I wake up and say "how can I make a difference in my life or someone else's life." Maybe tonight I might inspire somebody to do the same.

So here's the message to all of you, and I hope this resonates - it might, it might not. We've all faced more adversity in the past 28 months than we've ever faced in our lives. Personally, I lost my mother to COVID last September. On top of that, I don't have to recount to all of you the personal toll this takes on every single person in your organization. In fact, I would bet that every person in this room tonight has or is still fighting a battle that those sitting next to you know nothing about. How do we recover from this nightmare which has tested so many of us, and our loved ones and coworkers literally to the brink? I wish I had all the answers, but I do know this: what we actually control more than anything in our daily lives is our empathy. Every day needs to be spent trying to find some other way to enrich the lives of those around us. Sometimes it means just being a good listener, sometimes it requires action. Either way, it requires the highest level of kindness that you've ever exhibited to your fellow men.

Throughout my life, as all of you have, I have evolved. Everybody here has evolved to some extent. I grew up in a very typical and family centric business. I worked hard to place trusted leaders around me to help create one of the best companies in each of the industries we serve. Personally, I've worked hard on myself and consider myself to be a continued work in process. We have over 7,000 associates - as you saw in the video - worldwide who rely on me to be the best version of myself. And quite frankly, I'm still actively working on - and likely will never stop - trying to be the best version of myself. So when we say lifetime achievement, to me that is call to action. And that is what this is all about tonight. It's a call of action to prove that my and my companies’ greatest achievements have yet to be realized. I'm hoping in 5 years I can get another lifetime achievement award, because I'm not done.

In closing, I'm 66 years old. I'm fortunate to have had the benefit of my 92-year-old father Jerry -being my hero, still my mentor- everyday, asking me how was work, how are you doing, what are you doing. He's the one who should really be receiving this award. He's not capable of being here today, but I accept this recognition on his behalf.

And onward to the next achievement. I want you all to realize one thing: don't count me out yet!” – Michael Benstock