Hello and welcome to August Third Leadership Partners. Thanks for visiting our site and this blog!
I started this firm to dedicate myself and my partners to bringing an integrated set of skills to helping leaders be even more effective in their roles. As the website says, I am building on 35 years of experience as a coach, consultant, divisional CEO in a Fortune 500 company, and business school professor and researcher. I won’t bore you here with more of that.
I do, though, want to talk about the name August Third Leadership Partners. Where did it come from and why is it important to me? Honestly, I have come to believe that things just come together at the right moment. At the same time that I was creating my firm, I watched the movie August Rush for the first time. It really caught my attention and spoke to what I believe or aspire to.
August Rush (2007) is about a 12 year old orphan who has been a ward of the state his entire life and who goes on a quest to find his birth parents. It is also turns out that the main character is a musical prodigy and takes the name August Rush as his stage name. Three things grabbed me about August Rush, the boy. First, he could not help but pursue this passion to find his parents. The drive and perseverance were amazing to me. Second, he couldn’t help but bring his gift of music to the world. And, in fact, did it in several different formats. And, third, when you watch the movie you see the sense of wonderment he has about all that goes on around him. He is engaged and curious.
I found myself saying, “yes, that is who I am and, more notably, that’s who I want to help my clients be.” I am dedicated to you finding your passion as a leader, to you bringing your unique gifts to the world, to all of us seeing the world with our eyes open and through a sense of wonderment.
So, August is for August Rush and his passion, gifts, and sense of wonderment.
What about “Third” then? Well, three is simply a powerful number — in math, science, religion, the cosmos. As a math guy first, three points determined a plane, which always led to the “three legs of the stool” metaphor in providing balance and stability. Three shows up in nature and, in many ways, in religion, and has come to symbolize balance, completeness, and unity. There are three elements of the universe – dark energy, dark matter, and normal matter. And, an endless list of key building blocks to our lives that come in threes. Three is a magical and powerful number that binds our lives together. So, I wanted the notion of the “three” in the name to represent completeness, unity, and balance.
We are in the business of helping leaders unleash their passion and gifts through a sense of wonderment, in pursuit of completeness and balance. And, so, August Third Leadership Partners.
By the way, let me comment also on the word “partners.” (Leadership is either too obvious or too long a conversation for right here, right now). Sure, “partners” means that there is more than just me, that I can, do, and will bring others in to work with you and your teams as appropriate. And, it links back to our concept of being leadership guides…we are YOUR partners. We are not here to do it for you or to you. But, to assist you, to be part of your team as you need it. We are your guides and your partners. So, again, August Third Leadership Partners.
Thanks for coming to visit us here. I’d love to have the chance to talk with you more.