Life after R

I have been getting a lot of advice on Life after R.  Mostly non-solicited.  But I went to a luncheon a couple weeks ago where someone told me, “Bill is a baby hugger.”  A baby hugger sits in rocking chair at a local hospital pediatric department and holds and talks to babies.  That is the first idea that sounds interesting.

But it also reminded me of something I read years ago in the Prologue to the book, Leadership Jazz by Max DePree.  Read on to find out why a passage on infant development appeared in a book on leadership.

I am taking the liberty, Mr. DePree, of quoting your Prologue for my friends:

“Esther, my wife, and I have a granddaughter named Zoe, the Greek word for ‘life.’  She was born prematurely and weighed one pound, seven ounces, so small that my wedding ring could slide up her arm to her shoulder.  The neonatologist who first examined her told us that she had a 5 to 10 percent chance of living three days.  When Esther and I scrubbed up for our first visit and saw Zoe in her isolette in the neonatal intensive care unit, she had two IVs in her naval, one in her foot, a monitor on each side of her chest, and a respirator tube and a feeding tube in her mouth.

“To complete the matters, Zoe’s biological father had  jumped ship the month before Zoe was born.  Realizing this, a wise and caring nurse named Ruth gave me my instructions.  ‘For the next several months, at least, you’re the surrogate father.  I want you  to come to the hospital every day to visit Zoe, and when you come, I would like you to rub her body and her legs and arms with the tip of your finger.  While you’re caressing her, you should tell her over and over how much you love her, because she has to be able to connect your voice to your touch.’

“Ruth was doing exactly the right thing on Zoe’s behalf (and, of course, on my behalf as well)….”

It worked.  First sentence in the next chapter reads:  “Ruth was right.  Zoe, now a flourishing four-year-old….”

We all know how important human contact is to infant development.  Without it they won’t learn to trust and attach.  But why is this story in a book on leadership?  DePree ended his Prologue with, “At the core of becoming a leader is the need always to connect one’s voice and one’s touch.”

Bill was once my boss and is an excellent example of a good leader.  So of course he knows, as does Max DePree, that being a leader isn’t just a workplace concept.  The basics of leadership apply in all areas of life and in all human relationships, even in welcoming babies into the world.