MMM | Love Your Partner, Love Your Work.

Good Monday morning,

Money can’t buy you health or love. This has never been so true.

The husband of Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, died of a massive heart attack while on vacation. Dave Sandberg was successful in his own right as the CEO of Survey Monkey and having over 20 years of leadership in Silicon Valley tech companies. In fact, he was the first person to introduce Sheryl to the Internet.

What I admired about this story is the impact that he had on her career and how supportive he was. In her well-known book Lean-in, Sheryl speaks of the role that David had in her life. As I read it, I was reminded of the truth of “the We.” I recognize that not everyone is blessed to have a life partner that is like this – someone who will journey, support, challenge and be your cheerleader.

In a 5-year study of 5,000 marriages, psychological scientists Brittany Solomon and Joshua Jackson of Washington University looked at the ways our partner’s influence our success at work. They found that higher partner conscientiousness was associated with greater satisfaction in the relationship, which spilled over into greater satisfaction and performance at work.

To have that in your life is truly special.

Lives and careers are much richer when we journey with others, who when we are challenged will give us perspective, when we are bruised will comfort us, and when we are victorious will celebrate with us.

This isn’t about money. You can’t buy this. It is earned over years of trial, error and, some would say, belief in a higher power to achieve this.

From me to we.

The Sandberg’s story is a paradox. There is so much love within it, yet an undeniable sense of pain and sadness with the sudden closure of their relationship.

A well lived life is not one lived alone.

Along the road with you,

Alan

P.S. Are you Bilingual? A natural problem solver, and pride yourself on your time management skills? Have experience with Zoom, Google, Asana, and Hubspot? We’re looking for a Corporate Success Specialist! Interested? Apply here!

P.P.S. We’re here to walk with you through your organization’s challenges and successes during this period of transition. Reach out to Jason Parks, VP of Business Development at [email protected] or 1-877-256-2569 ext 600 to chat about how you can support your team.