I received an e-mail in response to my last post that nearly brought me to tears. It read in part:

My sister forwarded [your blog post] to me because she thought I would appreciate it. You two know each other actually, her name is XXXXX and she is an XXXXX at XXXXX.

I frequent 4chan and have heard of you so I had a particular interest in hearing about her interactions with you. She said that of the portfolio CEOs she deals with, you were her favorite. And now I can see why.

I’ve always thought that a good measure of a person’s character is how they treat people that cannot further their interests. Judging from your blog post, you are the type of CEO that takes responsibility for his own decisions and doesn’t pass the buck or blame market forces. And, most importantly in my mind, doesn’t bail on his employees or customers to kowtow to investors.

[…]

Don’t take too much time off, the world needs people like you in business. Here’s looking forward to your next venture.

Best wishes and thanks for being kind to my sister :)

It has always been extremely important to me to treat others well, including and especially “people who cannot further [my] interests." I agree with the author that it is a good—if not the best—measure of character. The author’s kind words are flattering, but also concerning, since this behavior should not be considered exceptional. But all too often it is, especially in business.

Two particular experiences have left lasting impressions on me.

One is a conversation with someone roughly four years ago. Upon learning I was to grab coffee with a new hire from a well-known venture firm, he responded "Why are you meeting with that clown? He isn’t a partner. You should be meeting with so-and-so instead of wasting your time!”

The other is a friend, who as the CEO of a public company with thousands of employees, made it a point to learn as much about those attending the company’s holiday parties so that he could congratulate them on a recent promotion, a new addition to the family, or a job well done. People would light up as their CEO, someone they may have never met before, went out of his way to pay them the smallest compliment.

It should be obvious that everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect—be they the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, the person working the mailroom, and everyone in between. Few things bother me more than people who look down upon others and fail to treat them as equals, simply because of their perceived social standing. I have an incredible distaste for those who do.

With DrawQuest we had the motto “leave the codebase a little better than you found it." In life, it may as well be "with every interaction, leave that person’s day a little brighter.”

You may never benefit from it directly, but you may one day receive an e-mail like this one, and believe me—it will all be worth it.