Michael O'Malley

Mike and I have known each other for more than three decades and have been business partners for coming up on twenty years.

When a friend and I planned a month-long trip to Italy a few years ago, I invited Mike and his wife Wanda along.

I've never invited a coworker on even a week's vacation, so I wasn't sure if it was even "proper," but I was so delighted when they agreed to meet us in Rome and go with us for three of the four weeks.

The four of us traversed Italy in a rented car from the capitol, through Tuscany, Umbria, up to Venice, all the way down to Sicily and then Sardinia, followed by Corsica in a whirlwind adventure.

During those three weeks we got to know things about one another that we had never known, even after many years of working very closely together.

For example, we had a chance to visit the small city near Naples where Mike's grandfather was born before his family emigrated to the USA.

Amazing!

What I learned from Michael O'Malley:  deepen the relationships with your coworkers.  There is a lot more to all of us than what we share in even a large number of busy workdays.