Thursday, April 20, 2006

Cemetaries, Hidden Treasures & Leadership

If you've ever been to Cleveland, I'll bet you've never been to Lakeview Cemetary.

If so, you're missing something special. My wife and kids were off on Spring break, so we decided to visit Lakeview Cemetary, one of the most beautiful places in Cleveland to spend a warm spring day.

Sound crazy? It's not.

A wee bit of history is in order, first.

In the late 1800's during the Industrial Revolution, when cities were growing, cemetaries were often the only greenspace left. Wise community leaders began developing these greenspaces into what would become early forms of parks. Back then, spending a Sunday picnicking at a cemetary wasn't as creepy as it sounds today. (For more on this history, read Thomas Christopher's fascinating book In Search of Lost Roses.)

Lakeview Cemetary was one of these cemetaries that was developed into a parklike setting. Now, over 100 years later, it is filled with beautiful flowering trees, any one of which would be the prized possession of most arboretums.

In addition to gorgeous trees and shrubs and flowers, the Lakeview Cemetary is home to stunning works of architecture, including an enormous 3-story monument to President Garfield; a one-of-a-kind chapel with an outstanding Tiffany stained-glass window; and much more.

Lakeview Cemetary is also the final resting place for people who have changed the course of American (and Cleveland) history, including first-ever billionaire & philanthropist John D. Rockefeller; President James A. Garfield; Al-Capone-catching lawman Elliot Ness and many others.

Funny thing about Lakeview Cemetary, though: most residents of Cleveland don't even know about this historical, botanical and architectural treasure, let alone people from out of town.

In the same way, many organizations have hidden treasures that very few people know about. These treasures, however, are PEOPLE. She might be Marge in customer service who knows how to calm the most irrate customer; he might be David in the IT department, who's problem-solving with computers is second to none.

EVERY organization is filled with hidden treasure - people who have talent and potential that goes unrecognized by the leaders of the organization.

BOTTOM LINE:DON'T make the same mistake most leaders make by ignoring the talent around them. Discover the hidden treasures among the people in your organizations and help them to shine.

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