𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Four years ago, I ran into the board president and Head of School at a coffee shop — just days after being elected to the Board of Trustees.

The board president smiled and said,

“𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁.”

I froze. I said nothing. (I hadn’t had my coffee, and witty comebacks weren’t happening.)

The Head of School tried to save the moment with a joke:

“𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗻.”

Inside, I was thinking: Why would he say that? He doesn’t even know me yet.

Fast forward: I’ve just been elected president of that board.

The lesson? Sometimes others see your potential before you do.

Next time someone offers a bold compliment, I hope I’ll say:

“𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗜’𝗺 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆—𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿.”