Vinton C.

Gordon is a man of many hobbies developed over his life time. He has developed those in addition to being an impressive businessman. As I came to understand after working with him for years, the umbrella encompassing these seemingly distinctive baskets of hobbies appears to be "business". I came to this awareness that in each hobby he allows you to find a fascinating connection to the unknown. And relating this "unknown" to "business" for learning and growth is his real art, making "bigger" sense of what I call hobbies, as they relate to all aspects of daily and strategic business wins. The lens he encourages me to look through to get the situation framed (e.g., in photography), the calmness a piece of "sound" offers in a difficult meeting (e.g., music), the intentional use of “misdirection” and "timing" during tough negotiations around a conference table (e.g., close-up magic) are now surfacing for me as lessons that I discovered, after years of working with him. This fascinating wisdom connected to my life, creating a different type of awareness in the execution of my leadership role; which in turn, brings to mind the thought that leadership is art, and the more dimensions we allow developing within ourselves, the more range we can offer to others as humans, parents and leaders. This is what he has done for me. And I am grateful for that.