Country Club Living - Palm Beach North - January 2026

J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 6 | C O U N T R Y C L U B L I V I N G - PA L M B E A C H N O R T H 5 W ho doesn’t want to be encouraged? It is part of the human condition. We all want to be valued, heard, understood, and certainly encouraged. It has been said, “ENCOURAGEMENT IS OXYGEN FOR THE SOUL”. Many people set lower standards than they are capable of achieving. As leaders, we already know this. This wisdom is well stated by German writer and statesman Johann W. von Goethe, who said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” von Goethe has put the challenge out there for all leaders to be the Chief Encouragement Officer. Your people want and need encouragement. The reality is, it doesn’t require much from you other than to be more aware of who needs encouragement and when. Here is a story about Mohammad Ali and a motivational Speaker and Magician, Art Zorka, that happened many years ago. Zorka is telling the story: I was in the New Orleans airport waiting for my flight to Atlanta. I heard a huge noise from people and looked over and saw Mohammed Ali and throngs of reporters, and Ali walked over to me. When he approached me, he stopped and looked at me, and said to me that he also did magic. I asked him how he knew I did magic. He said I’m the greatest. I know everything. We laughed. He arranged for us to sit together on the plane. We exchanged magic ideas and tricks. Before reaching Atlanta, I said to him Champ, I speak to audiences all the time. Would you tell me the greatest lesson you’ve learned from life, so I can share it with my audiences? He thought for a moment and then said, “It was Jan 28, 1964, in Miami. I was Cassius Clay fighting Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title. He was the strongest man I’d ever fought. Every time I hit him, it hurt me worse than it did him. I gave him everything I had. When the sixth round ended, I was completely spent. I couldn’t even raise my arms. I told Angelo Dundee, I’m done, I’m going home, I’m not going back out there. Then the bell rang. Dundee screamed at me and pushed back into the ring and said to me, ‘Get in there and don’t come back until you are the Heavyweight Champ of the World. The rest of the story is Boxing history. Ali stumbled into the ring, but Liston quit; he was the one who didn’t answer the bell. When Zorka heard this, he anticipated that Ali’s lesson was to keep on keeping on, get up every time you get knocked down. But that wasn’t it. Zorka said Ali’s response was “ You tell your audiences that the greatest lesson I’ve learned is to have someone pushin you and makin you do things you do not think you can do. That’s the greatest lesson-go tell them that.” This is a great lesson in Leadership. Our people need encouragement. They need to know you believe in them, you “have their back”. Sometimes it is a simple pat on the back, a handwritten note, or public recognition. Whatever it may take. Always be the Chief Encouragement Officer-CEO. Bob Fashano is the founder of Lead One Consulting, LLC, an executive Coaching and Leadership Development Company located in Palm Beach Gardens. Bob Is a certified Executive Coach from the Center for Executive Coaching and a member of the International Coaching Federation. He is the author of a recently released book, "Make Today Your Masterpiece" and a new book to be released in the second quarter of 2025. He serves on the Keiser Flagship Advisory Counsel. The Chief Encouragement Officer (CEO) - By Bob Fashano -