“Treat people well on your way up the ladder, because you’ll see those same people on your way down…and you may need their help.”

Six degrees of separation? How about two? Especially in small town America.

My dad said to me after college: “Treat people well on your way up the ladder, because you’ll see those same people on your way down…and you may need their help.”

I spent this weekend at my getaway home in Centre Hall, PA running errands, cutting grass, trimming trees, installing a new door, handling repairs, seeing my son, enjoying the borough-wide annual yard sale. At each stop along the way I found good people I know…at the yard sale, at Sheetz and the Rural King and at The Gamble Mill restaurant. Co-workers. Members of my former team. Long-time friends. Each one genuinely embraced me and was interested in my life and career.

This weekend reinforced that my dad was right all those years ago. Treat people well as you build a life and career.