What's Your Legacy for the Future? 'The most
unselfish thing you can do with your life is to plant a
walnut tree. If you plant a walnut tree, you won't see
it fruit for many years - you're investing for your
children. You are planting something for generations yet
to come. At the end of your life you need to be able to
say, 'I planted a walnut tree.' For the twenty-something
executive coming up for breath or the Chief Executive at
the top of their game, To Plant A Walnut Tree is a
rallying call to use your experience from day one, and
to plant the seed for a fruitful legacy. It's about
finding the practical answer to the What's Next? or Is
this it? questions, in order to climb an even higher
tree. In To Plant a Walnut Tree Trevor Waldock issues a
personal invitation to reshape your life and find a
pathway to share wisdom in a practical way - something
he calls eldership. Elders provide perspective, and they
hold leaders to account. Their wisdom may be needed to
solve a problem, understand a dilemma, resolve a
conflict or map a pathway through complex and unfamiliar
territory.Privileged with the gift of experience, they
can see the broader perspective, from climbing the even
higher tree and taking the longer-term view. They make
way for, and they guide, generations to come. We can all
aspire to be elders. The discovery that one's life can
be a journey that makes sense, not just for oneself in
the short term, but also for others in the future can be
life changing. It is not limited to gender or culture or
education. It creates hope across the whole life span
and brings about meaning to the everyday. Eldership may
be the key to examining many of the challenges society
faces at all levels -it speaks to leaders in all aspects
of life, be they in business, education, or local and
national politics. It bridges cultures and it encourages
the sharing of wisdom and experience across them. |
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