At Art of Brill we often talk about 4000 weeks. If you’ve not heard about it I won’t keep you guessing, it’s the average human lifespan. Some of us get more and some less.
Depending on how many weeks you’ve lived so far you may be thinking ‘wow so much time ahead of me’ or ‘cripes I’ve used a fair few’. For all of us it should be a wake-up call and maybe an opportunity to evaluate what we do with those weeks and make the most of whatever time we have left.
Today I want to tell you about my mate Ade. I met him in 2012 when he came into my workplace to lead a transformation programme. Ade was different. He was full of energy and enthusiasm, super easy to get on with and soon became a good friend. He was what we call a 2%er and had that talent of bringing his best self to work most days, even during big organisational changes when the whole world seemed to be fighting you. There were bad days, but Ade used them as power-ups.
We did some great work together for the best part of three years before Ade moved on. In that time Ade did three things that changed my life.
Firstly, he brought in a chap called Andy Cope for a day with the leadership team doing something called the Art of Being Brilliant. I’ll be honest and when he first told me I thought it would be rubbish, but how wrong was I? Best training of my life!
Secondly, he encouraged me to ask Andy if I could join Art of Brilliance. I loved it but wasn’t sure I could do it. Ade gave me the confidence to take the next step.
Thirdly, when he did his one and only gig for Art of Brill, he rang me and asked me to share it with him. That was my first paying gig.
I had an email from his wife Sarah in July 22 saying that Ade had died after a short battle with cancer. He was 53. She came up with a brilliant plan to celebrate his life and asked whether I could do 20 minutes of Art of Brill at the funeral. I knew that I couldn’t do it live, but I recorded a session with help from Andy that was shown at the funeral. Ade would have loved it.
Ade only had 2806 weeks, but he made the most of every second of it. His passion and enthusiasm rippled out and impacted on everyone he met. For me he was the difference that made the difference. I’ve been working with Andy since 2015 and it is the best job in the world. If it wasn’t for Ade, I wouldn’t have met Andy, worked for Art of Brill or co-authored the best leadership book every written (in our humble opinion), so his impact on me was massive. I just wonder how many other massive impacts he had in his 53 years.
When we talk about 4000 weeks it’s not to encourage you to live a long life. We want you to live a great life and let your unique brilliance impact on those around you. Most of us could probably turn life up a notch and be more alive, be more caring, be more impactful, be more Ade.