TED talks on leadership, Thanksgiving dinner, and HR advice in corporate America all coalesced into a single theme for this month’s message.

In one TED talk the speaker asked how many in the audience had been profoundly influenced by someone. As you can imagine, most of those in the audience raised their hands. When she asked how many had told the other person, few hands remained. We are constantly influencing others without being aware of that influence.

Did you notice at Thanksgiving the variety of personalities and world views around you? In one way or another you are related, yet you retain your individuality – or I sincerely hope you do. These were some of your strongest influencers.

The thing that really got me to thinking, though, was hearing from a corporate executive that HR had advised him that he shouldn’t be surprised to see young job applicants accompanied to their interviews by their parents – and he might want to let them attend! The question that popped into my head was not why, but how those kids could have reached the point that they thought they should allow their parents to attend.

We are all leaders, consciously or unconsciously. It is through our words and deeds that we influence others. What do we want the world to look like when we’re gone?