One of my heroes is gone. Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington Bureau Chief and journalist extraordinaire, passed suddenly from a heart attack Friday while he was preparing for his weekend show. A good man is gone and I am sad.

Recently, at an event in LA, I heard Mark Victor Hansen (another one of my heroes) speak. He talked about creating your “Top 200″ list. He suggested that you should create a list of the top 200 people you want to work with, play with, travel with, do philanthropy with, and grow old with. He further said to find a picture of them and write out next to their picture what you will say to them when you see them, even if these people were kings and celebrities you haven’t even met yet.

Mark’s point was to build your dream team and to begin living your life at that higher vibration. Identify who you admire and are aligned with. Want peace? Put the Dalai Lama on your list. Want social revolution? Put Nelson Mandala on your list. Want business acumen? Put Donald Trump on your list. The idea isn’t to celebrity stalk but to begin to realize that you can count yourself among those people.

Tim Russert is on my list. He is on my list because I admired his journalistic integrity. I liked how he could patiently ask probing and important questions (more than once, if he had to) rather than let it slide or to let the spin get out of control. He called it “persistent but civil”. I regret that I didn’t get to say in person to him what I had planned.

Tim was passionate about the contribution our fathers made. He believed in the silent good. He believed that our nation is purple, not red or blue. He could make you laugh about ridiculousness. He was an expert at politely highlighting inconsistent behavior. Common sense was his standard.

I sometimes am discouraged by the state of mainstream media but I always looked to Tim for steadfastness. I watched Meet the Press because of him, not in spite of him. I have been watching him for decades and I have been touched by his point of view.

What, as entrepreneurs, can we learn from his life and his passing?

  • Life is short, so live it well while you have it. Tim  was only 58 years old.
  • Living a life rich in experience and open to others’ points of view builds you fans. Even if you disagreed with him, it was hard not to admire his style.
  • Laughter can soothe even the most vicious of beasts. Many an adversary chuckled on Tim’s show.
  • Gratitude and recognition of meaning contributes to all of us.  Tim would glow when he spoke about the lessons his father taught him. He saw the full meaning of his dad’s life and his dad’s role in his life. He knew what to notice.
  • Heroes persist in our hearts even after they are gone. Be a hero. Make a difference.

As we move into Father’s Day, in honor and celebration of Tim Russert’s life, go out and buy one of his books for your dad. It’s a great gift to put into words what you want and need to say.

Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons
Surprised by the overwhelming and heartfelt reception to Big Russ and Me(2004), Russert follows that memoir of his relationship with his father with a collection of letters he received recounting relationships between fathers and their sons and daughters, excerpts from which comprise this book. Tim said that he has left a blank page in the front of this book so that you can write a personal letter to your father. Based on Tim’s sudden passing, I encourage you to do it now, today.

Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life
Meet the newsman’s father in this stupendously entertaining book. The senior Tim Russert served in WWII, married and settled in South Buffalo, N.Y., worked days for the Sanitation Department, drove a night truck for the local evening paper and raised four kids. The younger Russert’s memoir begins as a tribute to his dad and the lessons he taught through the years, but also takes ample time to tell how Russert junior grew up and became the moderator of Meet the Press.

Tim,  I miss you already. May you rest in peace and may your family find comfort.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

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