I had the great pleasure of visiting my colleague Bill Treasurer at his home in North Carolina this past week, on my way back from viewing the awesome total eclipse from high up in the gorgeous Smoky Mountains. Bill and I are comrades-in-arms. He published his first book Right Risk about the same time I published the first edition of The Courageous Follower, both of us with our wonderful publisher, Berrett-Koehler. Bill’s next book was Courage Goes to Work and his most recent is A Leadership Kick in the Ass. All of his work is written with great heart. We took advantage of our visit to take this photo of us holding each other’s work in one of our hands while with the other clasping each other’s hand in a show of unity and commitment to bringing greater courage and authenticity to both the leader and follower role. The awesome rope bridge in the background is actually a piece of art that Bills wife, Shannon, bought for him. It can be imbued with endless symbolism including bridging to the two roles, making the journey we each need to in order to live with courage, a path to the future, etc. When I saw this piece of art I told Bill the story of the swinging bridge I had to learn to cross when I did a writing retreat twenty five years ago in North Carolina to help finish the first edition of The Courageous Follower. Sometimes life comes full circle.