Be Like Mike

I don’t know Bernd Larsen Linde. He wrote a post about my brother, Michael Moynihan, which is how I connected with him. He’s a leader in one of the coolest technologies in golf, so I’d really like to meet him in person someday.

His post is about a meeting he recently had with Mike in Denmark. You can read it here. 

I read his post with pride as he described Mike with words like “biggest heroes,” “awesome person,” “sharp,” and “brilliant.” He ended his post by talking about Mike’s curiosity and focus on learning. 

If the story ended there, it would have been a proud brother moment.

Then the comments came. Yes, the bakery where they met got a lot of attention, but the goosebumps came when I scrolled and found words like these to describe Mike: “superb leader and human;” “teacher;” “the most inspiring person I’ve come across in my career;” and “we are lucky to benefit from it (Mike’s leadership and wisdom) in our life and in our work.”

I’ve rarely had the chance to see Mike in his role as a business leader. I’ve only seen him as a brother, uncle, son, and golf partner. I have seen him in those moments when nobody else is around, marveling at his work ethic as he prepared for the next presentation or supported one of his LEGO teammates or Harvard Business School students. 

The people who commented on Mike were perfect strangers to me, except one. But what united us was that the Mike they see on the outside is the same Mike I see on the inside when nobody else is watching. 

There was an old ad campaign for a sports drink encouraging consumers to “Be Like Mike.” For those of us looking for role models on how to lead, we’d be well served to follow that advice and be like my brother Mike.