Appreciating a Fellow Sensitive Soul
Perhaps you don’t realize it, or maybe you do, but today is the anniversary of the passing Thomas Leonard. And maybe that name doesn’t mean anything to you, so let me explain.
Thomas was known as the “father of coaching.” Trained as a CPA, he noticed that his typical client wanted to talk with him about more than the numbers in their life. They wanted to talk about goals, needs, the future and many other things. And here’s where Thomas’s brilliance starts to shine.
He wasn’t complacent about these wants. He went out and created an industry, looking behind the need at what skills would be needed for someone to effectively help this type of person. From that, he created 2 coaching schools and 2 coach certifying bodies all by his mid-40’s when he was suddenly taken from this earth. Prolific only starts to describe his lifetime accomplishments.
What I appreciated about Thomas was more subtle than the typical resume or CV would contain. Thomas had some of the great attributes of our inner-directed type. I knew Thomas to be an introvert and “super sensitive person” – his way of describing what most of us know as “highly sensitive” today.
For instance, I always admired his quick mind and ability to sum things up in memorable words. He grasped concepts quickly and saw “below the water line” of what was going on. This is very typical of introverts who generally possess these faculties, but Thomas used them in extraordinary ways.
Thomas also introduced me to the concept of being sensitive. And he did it in such a positive way, knowing that sensitivity is an asset. In fact, Thomas thought every one of us, whether highly sensitive or not, needed to become more sensitive to everything. He thought that many of life’s issues and problems started simply because we had become less responsive to things that mattered. To become more sensitive would erase the issue or problem before it became one. Genius!
And Thomas had a quality I don’t see in many inner-directed folks: he was lightning quick to act. Instead of thinking things over and wondering, he seized every moment of every day, often working odd hours simply because the thoughts and energy was there. For example, on September 11, 2001, after the World Trade Centers were hit by those terrorist-driven planes, he held calls to help people process what was happening. He knew what was needed and he provided it. And it was Thomas who said “Delay is increasingly costly.” That was 10 years ago or so. I wonder what he would think today.
Thomas touched many lives. I’m grateful he touched mine.
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