TIME to CONTRIBUTE by Alan Mulally

“We were with a group of leaders and it was an all-day meeting, they were talking about, you know, serving and contributing and including everybody, and I just—I just hadn't gotten to the place where I really felt like I had something to say or something to contribute. And I was sitting next to Frances—and I had just met Frances—we'd been together now, maybe four or five hours—and as the conversation progressed, Frances leaned over to me and she said, ‘It's your time to contribute.’ And I kind of looked at her a little bit, and the then conversation proceeded a little bit more and she said, ‘I think it's the time, now.’ And so the conversation went on a little bit more and then she reached over and grabbed my had and said, ‘Now's the time.’ And I—it just was a magic thing because it was time for me to share a perspective that I had and it just was the right time, and it seemed to be well-received and it just took the conversation to a—maybe a deeper level—and so, when Frances calls, I answer the phone.”