Woolwich residents had a rare treat on Friday night, when they were able to see Malcolm Gladwell and Roger Martin share the stage at Floradale Mennonite Church.
Gladwell and Martin, who both grew up in Woolwich, are extremely influential men — and, according to the London Times, are also each in the Top 100 Thinkers list.
Gladwell is well known for his best-selling books, such as The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. His newest book, What the Dog Saw, is a collection of his writings from the New Yorker magazine, where he works.
Martin is the dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Separately, these men are intelligent, articulate men who see the world in a different way. Together, their intellectual prowess seems to grow exponentially.
While there is no doubt that these men have an abundance of good genes, we suspect that it took some special families to raise them as well.
Whenever someone reaches a level of greatness, we suspect that there has been some pretty good nurturing going on over the years — and the willingness of families to let their children be who they are, not who they are expected to be.
That was the hidden message that could be found in both Joyce Gladwell and Delphine Martin’s introductions of their sons, at Friday night’s gathering.
Gladwell spoke of her appreciation of the little boy and his sense of wonder, and the fact that her little boy still has that sense of wonder today.
It takes special parents to allow a child grow into a man, facing all the day-to-day responsibilities that brings, and still letting the child within continue to flourish.
As for Martin, she shared how her son surprised her family when he wanted to go to Harvard. They didn’t really think he would get in, but when he did, they gave him the chance to go.
It also takes special parents to let their children go far from the nest, to fly wherever they want.
We suspect that Gladwell and Martin have been blessed with these kinds of parents.
The world is the better for it, and Floradale, this past Friday night, was blessed to be a part of the lives of men who see the world a little differently — and see what can be, not what can’t.