The Most Valuable Gift Was Not the Gift

A note to young leaders.

It’s not the gift that matters – it’s what the gift represents.

Over my career, I’ve been gifted roughly 800 bottles of wine and spirits. Only one sits on my bookshelf.

It’s not from anyone famous or distinguished – though I expect one day he will be.

It was a parting gift in June 2022 from a then-junior EG employee: the talented Adam Yu.

What sets it apart isn’t its price or its vintage. It’s the note that came with it.

Adam wrote something to the effect of: “Let’s catch up for dinner ten years from today and drink this bottle together.”

One line. And it told me everything. That Adam valued long-term relationships. That he didn’t see our connection as merely transactional. That he wanted the friendship to endure beyond our business association.

I pass that bottle every day on the way to my bedroom. The odds are good (God willing) that I’ll be drinking it with Adam on 23 June 2032.

Relationships matter. Long-term relationships matter most.