The CEO burst into tears

Dear CEO,

A friend of mine once asked a CEO colleague when he, the CEO, had last heard bird song.

The CEO burst into tears.

He had been living a life in offices, taxis, trains and planes. Incessantly.

What are you hearing just now?

Intermittent high pitched screeching? The threatening bass riff from Jaws? Maybe an uplifting orchestral film score? Or something distractingly discordant?

Who is the conductor in all of this? Maybe its a happily creative jam session. Or a disorganised cacophony on a loop?

And what of the whispers?

And the lows and highs on the edge of hearing?

How do you attend to those? And what sense are you making of these? Great ideas in the making? Or the fin of an inbound shark?

Back to the tearful CEO.

There’s something right there about being disconnected from something important. Something we are missing in our flat worlds of screens, spreadsheets, tables, flip-charts,  floors, roads and runways. Something that refreshes, inspires, and energises. And a whole lot more.

Dear CEO,  when did you last hear bird song. And savour it? Deeply?

Dave Stewart

Managing Director

The Fresh Air Learning Company