Sometimes, you just have to give someone a break

Call it what you want:  paying it forward, serendipity, or destiny, but sometimes you just have to give someone a break...

I have many examples of giving people the benefit of the doubt, giving them a second chance in my professional life, but I want to share an example of giving someone a break in my personal life that comes full circle for me, especially considering my Navy background.
 
I have a rental property in Virginia and have been very fortunate to have good tenants through the years.  One tenant was a single mom with a high school son who played football.  Going into his junior year, and halfway through a two year lease with me, mom asked if she could break the lease so that she could move into another school district with a more competitive football team that would hopefully attract more college scholarship opportunities.  I agreed to do so and wished them well.
 
About two years later I received a very kind note and photo from mom.  She stated that the football scholarship did not happen, but that she was extremely proud of her son’s most recent accomplishment.
 
The photo was of her son in Navy dress whites, taken on the very happy day that he graduated from boot camp at Great Lakes.  Call it what you want:  paying it forward, serendipity, or destiny, but sometimes you just have to give someone a break.
 
Now, think about that in your professional life as a leader.  

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