What will your obituary say?

Most people will not get to know what their obituary says before they die. However, there have been some noticeable exceptions.

There’s Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. In 1888, when his brother, Ludvig, died, a French newspaper thought Alfred had passed away and printed an obituary. The headline for his erroneous obituary read “The Merchant of Death is Dead.” The article said that Nobel “became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before.” Nobel, upon realizing that this was how the world would remember him, changed his will and gave all his money to set up the Nobel Prizes. He would associate himself with the Peace Prize.

(Another person who got to read his obituary before he died was PT Barnum of Barnum and Bailey Circus fame. When he was on his deathbed in 1891, Barnum remarked that he wished he could read his obituary before he died because the press always said nice things about him. So the New York Evening Sun obliged and printed his obituary a full month early.)

During a coaching session a derailed executive said: “I want my kids to be proud of me.” After reporting any negative behavior I would ask, “Would your kids be proud of you if they knew you were doing this?” When the answer was “no” he thought twice about acting in a negative manner. The result was a decrease in those actions that were derailing his career.

Why wait until you die? Get some 360-degree coaching right now. It’s going to be difficult to hear, but it will be more difficult for your people to tell you.